Reference library
Each topic is explained once, here, with its sources and the date it was last checked. Guides and tracker pages link to these entries.
The rule of 3 and reading rooms
Records an agency has released, and that have been requested three or more times, must be made available online. Repeat requests do not remove exemptions or set a posting date.
How timing is counted
The law gives agencies 20 working days to decide on a request, with possible extensions. This site counts business days from filing and does not judge any request's legal deadline.
Who can request whose file
You can request your own records, an attorney or representative can request a client's, and anyone else's records generally need that person's written authorization or proof of death.
Coming soon
Closure reasons and responses
The common closure types on USCIS letters, what each means, and what you can do about it.
Coming soon
Appeals
How and when to appeal a FOIA decision by USCIS, and where to get help.
Coming soon
Where else records are kept
ICE, CBP, the immigration courts, the State Department and the FBI each keep their own records and take their own requests.
Coming soon
When FOIA is not the right tool
Some things people ask for under FOIA have their own process: case status, returned documents, replacement certificates, records searches, older records of people who have died, and I-94 records.
Coming soon