Friday, June 12, 2015

TSA Posts Notice Regarding Resolution of Delays in Processing TWIC Cards, with Caveat

On June 12, 2015, the Transportation Security Administration posted the following notice at http://www.tsa.gov/stakeholders/transportation-worker-identification-credential-twic:

1) UPDATED! TWIC Processing Delays: The previously announced delay in processing some TWIC applications has been resolved.  Most applicants will receive a TWIC within a month of enrolling, and often in about two weeks.  However, despite progress in reducing processing delays for the small number of applicants whose criminal or immigration records indicate that they may not be eligible for a TWIC, those applicants may still experience a two-and-a-half month wait before receiving a TWIC or notification from TSA.
To ensure all eligible applicants receive a new or renewal TWIC before it is needed for work we continue to strongly encourage all applicants to apply for their TWIC at least 10 to 12 weeks prior to when the card will be required to avoid inconvenience or interruption in access to maritime facilities.

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Takeaways from this notice: applicants with anything in their background that might result in a application refusal on criminal history or immigration grounds may still experience a lengthy delay.  It remains to be seen if persons with clean backgrounds continue to experience lengthy delays.  Employers would be well-served to take TSA’s advice and assume that the application process will take 10 – 12 weeks.


The only way to find out if anything new has been posted on the TSA TWIC website is to check it daily.  At the bottom of the site is a revision date.  If this date has changed, new material has been added.  Do not rely on the NEW!  verbiage on notices because TSA does not remove this on a timely basis.

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