Cost of Processing a Clearance at CBP

According to a recent article in Homeland Security Today, it costs the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol a mere $3,000 to process a new employee for a security clearance.

Each new hire for Border Patrol will cost the agency $170,360…which is an increase of about $11,000 over fiscal 2009…[including] additional $3,000 for security clearance and background investigations.

Though the level of clearance involved is unspecified and may be only a suitability clearance—not Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, this amount sounds awfully low. We recall seeing estimates that it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to process a new Secret or Top Secret clearance, due to all the hours involved in vetting employment histories and credit reports and interviewing references.

Filed Under: Procedures