Title 10Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§1564b Security vetting for foreign nationals

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART II— - PERSONNEL › Chapter CHAPTER 80— - MISCELLANEOUS INVESTIGATION REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER DUTIES › § 1564b

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Require the Secretary of Defense to create one set of rules and a single, central process to screen and vet covered foreign individuals who need access to DoD systems, facilities, personnel, information, or operations. The rules must cover background checks for access to classified information. The Secretary must work with the Security Executive Agent under Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103; 50 U.S.C. 3161 note), make the standards match that agent’s directives, and appoint a DoD official to run the process and decide on results. Covered foreign individual — a foreign national, a U.S. person who is also a foreign national, or a lawful permanent resident who is a DoD civilian, contractor, or service member. The Secretary may also use this process when deciding security clearances for people with significant foreign influence or foreign preference under 32 C.F.R. part 147.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §1564b

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Security Executive Agent established pursuant to Executive Order 13467 (73 Fed. Reg. 38103; 50 U.S.C. 3161 note), shall develop uniform and consistent standards and a centralized process for the screening and vetting of covered foreign individuals requiring access to systems, facilities, personnel, information, or operations, of the Department of Defense, including with respect to the background investigations of covered foreign individuals requiring access to classified information.
(2)The Secretary shall ensure that the standards developed under paragraph (1) are consistent with relevant directives of the Security Executive Agent.
(3)The Secretary shall designate an official of the Department of Defense to be responsible for executing the centralized process developed under paragraph (1) and adjudicating any information discovered pursuant to such process.
(b)In addition to using the centralized process developed under subsection (a)(1) for covered foreign individuals, the Secretary may use the centralized process in determining whether to grant a security clearance to any individual with significant foreign influence or foreign preference issues, in accordance with the adjudicative guidelines under part 147 of title 32, Code of Federal Regulations, or such successor regulation.
(c)In this section, the term “covered foreign individual” means an individual who meets the following criteria:
(1)The individual is—
(A)a national of a foreign state;
(B)a national of the United States (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) and also a national of a foreign state; or
(C)an alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)).
(2)The individual is either—
(A)a civilian employee of the Department of Defense or a contractor of the Department; or
(B)a member of the armed forces.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Executive Order 13467, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), is Ex. Ord. No. 13467, June 30, 2008, 73 F.R. 38103, which is set out as a note under section 3161 of Title 50, War and National Defense.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 1564b

Title 10Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73