Legal Clearance

The Peace Corps requires the full disclosure of your legal history in order to make an eligibility and suitability determination regarding your invitation to serve.

Learn about legal clearance

The Peace Corps is required to complete a background investigation on all applicants to ensure that their service is consistent with the mission and values of the Peace Corps and the federal government. In addition, because the safety and security of our Volunteers and community partners are priorities, we thoroughly review the legal history of every applicant.

Disclosing all legal information during the application process is important, including any citations, arrests, or charges—regardless of whether the charge was dismissed, sealed, or expunged.

All such incidents will show up later during your background check. If you don’t disclose at this point, you risk your invitation being rescinded based solely on non-disclosure, regardless of how minor the offense might be.

Information revealed by the background investigation, including information that you failed to disclose, may be grounds for disqualification from Peace Corps service.

Legal clearance tasks

Most of the legal clearance process takes place after you’re conditionally invited to serve. Once invited, you will receive an email guidance on submitting fingerprints and the background investigation certification form. You can’t depart for your Peace Corps service assignment until you are legally cleared by Legal Eligibility.

Don’t delay completing your legal tasks, as gaining legal clearance can take upwards of 2-4 months and in some cases longer. We’ll reach out by email with additional information and reminders as you work through completing the required legal tasks.

You will receive a notification once your legal clearance process has been initiated and another notification with the final outcome of your legal clearance determination.

Pro tip: Pay close attention to the instructions and be consistent with the information you provide. Small errors, even leaving something blank, can lead to big delays in receiving your legal clearance.

What does the background investigation reveal?

The investigation will reveal all citations, charges, arrests, and convictions, regardless of disposition (i.e., suspended sentence, deferred judgment, dismissal, not guilty, reduced charge, mistaken identity, or expungement).

What if a new legal issue comes up after I’ve been conditionally invited to serve?

If a new legal issue comes up after you have been conditionally invited to serve, please contact Legal Eligibility immediately at [email protected].

Appeal process

If legal clearance is denied, you may be able to appeal the decision and/or reapply at a later date.

Contact Legal Eligibility with your concerns and/or questions by emailing [email protected].