Reporting Foreign Contacts

In addition to the general requirements for self-reporting discussed under Reporting Personal Activities, all personnel approved for access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) or certain Special Access Programs must report all "close, continuing personal associations with foreign nationals." They must also report their contact with "persons from other countries whenever those persons show undue or persistent interest in their employment, assignment, or sensitive national security matters."1

The term "close, continuing personal association with a foreign national" is subject to varying interpretations. This reporting requirement is intentionally flexible to allow different agencies to follow procedures commensurate with the sensitivity of their information and the vulnerability of some categories of employees who may be especially high on the target list of foreign intelligence services.

As a general rule, you should report any relationship with a foreign national (not a citizen of the United States) that involves bonds of friendship, affection or personal obligation. Contact with a representative or an element of a foreign government that is not part of your official duties should also be reported. The following types of contact need not be reported:

Work-related contact with foreign nationals, providing that the contact has been coordinated with your management and otherwise reported through contact reports or other official reporting.
Limited, essentially public contact with foreign national neighbors, teachers, or trades people, or limited, essentially public contacts with foreign nationals at community gatherings, sports events, clubs or restaurants, or via postal services, telephones, amateur radios, or information systems (electronic mail, bulletin boards, and other computer online services).
Non-live-in domestic help. (However, if domestic help has unescorted access to your residence you may wish to ask your security office to conduct names traces through appropriate indices.)

If questions arise, be sure to consult with your security office. You are expected to exercise good judgment about reporting foreign contacts and may be held accountable if you fail to do so.

Reference
1. Director of Central Intelligence Directive 1/19, Security Policy for Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), paragraph 2.9, approved March 1, 1995.

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Reporting Foreign Contacts

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