I invited a user ([email removed]) to Jira. The user clicked the invitation link and accepted, but

[Chathurika Nanayakkara]

I’m using Jira Service Management to run a customer portal based on forms and approval workflows. Until recently, everything worked normally — when a new user registered through the portal link and created a ticket, the workflow showed the HOD (Head of Department) options in a dropdown so the approval process could start.

However, now I’m facing an issue:

Problem

For new users, the HOD dropdown suddenly shows “No options” instead of listing the available HODs.
Old users still see the correct list, but new portal users do not.

[Marc -Devoteam-]

Hi @Chathurika Nanayakkara 

Check the context of the custom field, what is set here?

Do users, need to pick this on creation, or is this field filled via automation?

[Chathurika Nanayakkara]

The HOD field is a custom creation

[Marc -Devoteam-]

Hi @Chathurika Nanayakkara 

What is the configuration, please show a screenshot of the field.

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

Hello @Chathurika Nanayakkara 

yep  this is usually a visibility/scope issue for that HOD “dropdown” (often a user picker) for new portal customers.

Quick questions to pinpoint:

What is the HOD field type: User picker, Select list, or Assets?

In Project settings → Customer permissions: who can customers share/search with (org only vs anyone)?

Are new users automatically added to a Customer Organization (and are HODs in the same org)?

What changed recently (permissions, request form, approvals, automation)?

I will opt vor Changed Permission/Visibility Scope.

[Chathurika Nanayakkara]

HOD is a user picker

Both org and anyone

New users register via the portal

Done some changes for the automation

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

Thanks, that help pinpoint that. Which Changes you made ?

Here couple things you should check:

Compare one “old user” ticket vs one “new user” ticket
On the issue (agent view), check:

Organizations value (same / empty / different?)

Request participants (set / missing?)
If the new user ticket has no org/participants, the portal user picker often returns No options.

Verify HOD accounts are selectable for customers
Are the HODs added as Customers in this service project?

Are they in the same Customer Organization your requesters should be in?
If HODs are only licensed Jira users and not in the customer scope, customers may not see them in the picker.

Automation change is the likely trigger
Check your changed rules for actions like:

setting/clearing Organizations

setting Reporter/Request participants

“Create request on behalf of” / moving tickets

Test: disable or restore the changed rule and test a new portal registration + request.

[Anjana Chandrapala]

Hi @Arkadiusz Wroblewski 

Im from the same organization as @Chathurika Nanayakkara above and let me answer some of the questions:

Problem statement as I see it: Newly registered users can't search for other users in the organization except themselves.

Organizations value (same / empty / different?) : Users are from a single organization. Are you refering to a specific field here?

Request participants (set / missing?): These are work requests coming in and the associated space have participants. The user submitting these requests are also in the said space.

Verify HOD accounts are selectable for customers
Are the HODs added as Customers in this service project?: HODs are in the service project (space) and are added to a seperate group too. This group is used as a filter for the HOD custom field. They are in the same organization as where the request is coming in.

Automation change is the likely trigger

We tried dissabling rules changed recently but it didn't help. I dont thing rules could be the cause because all the rules are setup in a way, they trigger only when a request is submitted. This issue happens on the form where user is trying to submit a request, but cannot search for the HODs in the HOD drop down list (or any other user pickers)

Here's what we have checked so far...:

1. Global permissions are given to jira-servicemanagement-users-mydomain group and the user submitting the request is a member of the same group
2. Customer Permissions for the space was checked. It has Open channel access and both "Allow customers to share requests with other participants and organizations" and "search those either within their space or organization." are turned on
3. Filtering on th custom field is set for a specific group and there are users in that group which still not showing up when searched.
4. Known Bug with Forms User Picker: The field we are using is not just a form field, it is a Jira custom field tied to a form field.
5. No duplicate accounts for these users

Hope this helps to find an answer to this issue

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

Hello @Chathurika Nanayakkara 

Thanks for the info.

Could you please share a screenshot of the Custom field configuration and include @Marc -Devoteam-  as well? I have a couple of ideas, but we still need a bit more detail to narrow it down.

[Chathurika Nanayakkara]

@Anjana Chandrapala Can you please share the field configuration of the HOD

[Anjana Chandrapala]

This is what it looks like @Marc -Devoteam- 

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Anjana Chandrapala 

thanks that screenshot is the key. You’ve configured a User Picker with a group filter (HODs / Managers). That works fine for licensed Jira users, but on the JSM portal it often returns “No options” for new customers, because portal customers can’t search the full Jira user directory and the group filter does not override customer visibility.

What to do:

Check Organizations on a new customer
New portal sign-ups are often not in a Customer Organization by default. If they have no org context, user picker results can be empty.

Make HODs selectable in portal context
Ensure HODs are also customers in the service project and in the same Customer Organization as the requester (being in a Jira group / being an agent is not enough for portal search).

If HODs should be internal-only
Don’t use a User Picker on the portal. Use a Select list (or Assets) and map it internally to the real approver.

Also: “global permissions / jira-servicemanagement-users-*” won’t help here, portal user pickers are driven by customer visibility, not Jira global perms.

@Marc -Devoteam-  Correct me if i´m wrong. For me it looks like Blank Visibility/Permission Scope problem.

[Marc -Devoteam-]

Hi @Arkadiusz Wroblewski 

Yes, I agree.

[Anjana Chandrapala]

@Arkadiusz Wroblewski and @Marc -Devoteam- 

Thanks for taking time to respond to this issue. Just few clarifications here:

1. Check Organizations on a new customer: In this situation, users performing the search are not just portal users.  There are licensed Jira users, but still cannot search for anyone in the organization, in both portal and in Jira. We have tried Customer, User (Agent) and both together, but still didn't work. Attached below is a screen-shot of a user's permissions.

2. Make HODs selectable in portal context:

We have HODs as customers in the space, but they are also not showing up when searched by new users. Also, please note, old user's have no issues searching for any user in the HOD group, in both portal view and Jira view.

See sample HOD permission screenshot below:

3. Don’t use a User Picker: We can try this out and it should work. But that's going to introduce a nother set of headaches when it comes to maintenance. These HODs, come and go frequently and it will be difficult to maintain them in multiple locations.

Shouldn't this be because of how new user permissions are setup? The key takeaway here is that HODs are searchable for all the users registered couple of days back and all of a sudden, any new user registered for Jira can't find them.

[Arkadiusz Wroblewski]

@Anjana Chandrapala 

Thank you for clarification.

I found a recent Atlassian Cloud KB on this exact behavior:

https://support.atlassian.com/atlassian-cloud/kb/fix-user-picker-fields-not-displaying-users-in-customer-portal/

It was updated on January 21, 2026, so there has been recent Atlassian activity around this topic.

I do not see a clear product-change announcement saying Atlassian changed this recently.

Since your issue is specifically affecting new users, I’d still also compare one old vs one new user for any difference in:

product/site access

customer organization membership

user directory visibility

Browse User Group permissions.