How to File a FOIA Request (Step by Step, 2026)

Any person can file a Freedom of Information Act request with a federal agency, and filing costs nothing. Under 5 U.S.C. section 552(a)(3)(A), a request only has to reasonably describe the records you want and follow the agency's published rules. The requirement to put it in writing comes from those agency rules, not from the statute.

Information last verified on 2026-08-04. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This guide covers the federal Freedom of Information Act only. For records held by a state, county, or city government, see our public records laws by state hub, which sets out each state's statute, deadline, residency rule, and appeal path. If you want a letter drafted for you, our free FOIA request generator builds one in your browser and stores nothing.

Step 1: Identify the Agency That Actually Holds the Records

FOIA applies to federal executive branch agencies: the executive departments, military departments, government corporations, government-controlled corporations, independent regulatory agencies, and offices within the Executive Office of the President. It does not reach Congress, the federal courts, or the President's immediate personal staff, and it does not reach state or local government at all. There is no general federal records law covering city councils, sheriff's offices, school districts, or state agencies. Those run under the state's own public records statute.

This matters before you write a word, because a request sent to the wrong body is not a slow request, it is a void one. Sorting the target first is the highest-value minute you will spend.

• Federal records (an FBI file, an FDA inspection report, a VA policy manual, State Department cables, EPA enforcement correspondence): file a FOIA request with that agency.
• State or local records (police reports, city contracts, county emails, state licensing files): file under the state's public records act. See the California, Texas, Florida, and Virginia pages, or pick your state from the hub.
• Court records: federal case files are public through the courts' own access systems, not through FOIA.
• Vital records (birth, death, marriage certificates): these are not records-act requests at all. They run through state and county health departments under eligibility rules that limit who may order a certified copy. Our death records by state guide covers that track.

If more than one agency plausibly holds the material, file with each of them. Agencies are not obliged to guess what you meant or to forward a misdirected request, although many will refer records that originated elsewhere.

Step 2: Check Whether the Records Are Already Public

Section 552(a)(2) requires agencies to make several categories of records available for public inspection in electronic form without anyone having to ask: final opinions and orders in adjudicated cases, statements of policy and interpretations not published in the Federal Register, administrative staff manuals and instructions that affect the public, and, under section 552(a)(2)(D), records previously released under FOIA that the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records, or that have been requested 3 or more times. Agencies publish these in what are usually labelled FOIA Libraries or Electronic Reading Rooms.

Searching the reading room first is worth ten minutes for two reasons. A record that is already posted arrives immediately instead of in months. And if the exact record is not there, the reading room usually tells you what the agency calls that record internally, which is the vocabulary you want in your request.

foia.gov's search tool also lets you look across previously released records and agency FOIA pages before you file.

Step 3: Write the Request

A FOIA request is a short letter or web form. It does not need legal language, a form number, or a stated reason. It does need to be specific enough that a records officer can find what you are asking for.

Reasonably describe the records

This is the requirement that decides whether your request works. An agency's duty under section 552(a)(3)(A) attaches to a request that "reasonably describes" the records, and in practice that means an employee familiar with the subject can locate them with a reasonable effort. Requests that fail almost always fail here, not on an exemption.

Weak: "All documents about drone surveillance."

Workable: "All final reports, memoranda, and email correspondence created between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025 by the Office of Policy Development concerning the use of unmanned aircraft systems for border surveillance, including any records referencing Program Name."

Five elements do most of the work:

1. Record type. Emails, contracts, inspection reports, complaint files, calendars, meeting minutes, training materials.
2. Date range. A bounded window. Open-ended requests invite an unusual-circumstances extension.
3. Office or component. Name the sub-agency or program office if you know it.
4. Subject or identifier. A case number, contract number, program name, facility, or named policy beats a topic every time.
5. Format. Ask for electronic delivery in a native or searchable format if that is useful to you.

Also state what you do not want. Excluding drafts, duplicates, press clippings, or attachments over a certain size narrows the search and reduces both the fee and the delay.

Say which fee category you are in, and set a ceiling

Section 552(a)(4)(A)(ii) sorts requesters into three categories:

Under section 552(a)(4)(A)(iv), requesters in the second and third categories get the first 100 pages of duplication or the first two hours of search time free. For a well-targeted personal request, that frequently means the whole thing is free.

State your category in the letter and cap your exposure. A common formulation is a single sentence: "I am willing to pay fees up to $25. If you estimate that fees will exceed that amount, please contact me before incurring them." An agency that expects to exceed your stated limit will normally stop and ask rather than run up a bill.

Ask for a fee waiver only where the public-interest test fits

Section 552(a)(4)(A)(iii) allows fees to be reduced or waived where disclosure "is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." That is a two-part test, and both parts have to be argued, not asserted.

A waiver paragraph works when you can explain what the public will learn about government operations from these specific records, why that understanding is not already available, and how you intend to share it. It does not work as boilerplate, and it does not work for records about yourself, since a personal file informs you rather than the public. Requesting a waiver you plainly do not qualify for adds a round of correspondence and delay.

Ask for expedited processing only if you can certify a compelling need

Expedited processing is not a "please hurry" note. Under section 552(a)(6)(E), an agency must move a request to the front of the queue where the requester demonstrates a compelling need, defined as circumstances in which the failure to obtain the records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual, or, for a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, an urgency to inform the public about actual or alleged federal government activity.

The statute also requires that the demonstration be made by a statement certified by the requester to be true and correct to the best of that person's knowledge and belief. That certification is the whole point of the mechanism, and it carries real exposure for a false statement. Treat expedited processing as its own separate, signed section of the request, never as a checkbox or a stock paragraph pasted into every letter.

Step 4: File It

There are two routes, and they lead to the same place.

The national portal. foia.gov accepts requests for participating agencies and routes them to the agency's own FOIA office. It is a portal, not a clearinghouse. As foia.gov states, there is no central office in the government that handles FOIA requests for all federal departments and agencies. The portal's value is that it gives you a tracking number, a status page, and a record of what you sent.

The agency directly. Every agency publishes its own FOIA page with a submission form, an email address, and a mailing address, and some agencies require their own system rather than the portal. USCIS is the clearest current example: as of January 22, 2026, USCIS instructs that FOIA and Privacy Act requests should be submitted online through its FIRST portal, and its guidance describes online submission as generally the only acceptable method.

Whichever route you take, keep three things: a dated copy of exactly what you sent, the tracking number the agency assigns, and the name of the FOIA officer if one is given. All three matter later if you have to appeal.

Step 5: Understand the Clock, and What the Wait Really Looks Like

Section 552(a)(6)(A)(i) requires an agency to determine within 20 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays, whether it will comply with the request, and to notify you of that determination, the reasons for it, and your right to appeal an adverse determination. Section 552(a)(6)(B) permits up to 10 additional working days on written notice of unusual circumstances, such as a need to search field offices or consult with another agency. If the agency still cannot finish inside that window, section 552(a)(6)(B)(ii) requires it to give you a chance to narrow the request or agree an alternative timeframe, so 30 working days is not an outer limit in practice.

Read the word "determination" carefully. It is the agency's decision on your request, not the arrival of the documents. An agency that tells you within 20 working days that it will process your request, has assigned it to the complex track, and estimates release in eight months has met the statutory deadline. This gap between the deadline and the delivery is the single most common source of frustration for first-time requesters.

The government-wide numbers show the same thing. Federal agencies received 1,501,432 requests in fiscal year 2024 and processed 1,499,265. In fiscal year 2025 they received 1,707,197 and processed 1,635,055, closing the year with 463,796 requests pending. The Department of Justice Office of Information Policy's July 2, 2026 summary of the fiscal year 2025 annual reports records both of those as record highs and puts the rise in requests received at 13.7 percent over the previous fiscal year.

foia.gov does not publish a single government-wide average or median. Individual agencies report their own average and median days, but there is no combined figure, so treat any single "the average FOIA request takes N days" claim as unsourced. What agencies actually report is a distribution across day ranges, split between a simple track and a complex track. For fiscal year 2025, across all agencies:

The simple and complex response-time tables cover only the requests agencies reported in those two tracks, so they do not add up to the full processed total.

Two honest observations follow. About 71 percent of simple-track requests closed within 20 days, so a narrow, well-described request genuinely does tend to move quickly. But only about 23 percent of complex-track requests did, and the complex total exceeds the simple total government-wide, partly because many agencies without a formal multi-track system log everything as complex. A broad request for several years of email is not a 20-day proposition in practice, whatever the statute says about the determination deadline.

Step 6: If You Are Denied, Redacted, or Ignored

An adverse determination includes a full denial, a partial release with redactions, a "no records" response, a fee-category or fee-waiver denial, and an agency's failure to respond within the statutory period, which is treated as a constructive denial. Each opens the same three paths.

The nine exemptions an agency can invoke

A withholding has to rest on one of the nine categories in section 552(b), and the denial letter should name which one. Knowing what each covers tells you whether an appeal has anything to argue.

1. 552(b)(1): matters specifically authorized by an executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy, and properly classified under it.
2. 552(b)(2): matters related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.
3. 552(b)(3): matters specifically exempted from disclosure by another statute that meets the paragraph's own criteria.
4. 552(b)(4): trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.
5. 552(b)(5): inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters that would not be available by law to a party in litigation with the agency, the provision that carries the deliberative-process, attorney-client, and attorney work-product privileges.
6. 552(b)(6): personnel, medical, and similar files whose disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
7. 552(b)(7): records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent disclosure would cause one of the six enumerated harms in subparagraphs (A) through (F), such as interfering with enforcement proceedings, depriving a person of a fair trial, invading personal privacy, disclosing a confidential source, revealing investigative techniques, or endangering someone's life or physical safety.
8. 552(b)(8): matters contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by or for an agency responsible for regulating or supervising financial institutions.
9. 552(b)(9): geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.

An exemption is permission to withhold, not a command to. Section 552(b) also requires the agency to release any reasonably segregable portion of a record after deleting the exempt parts, so a document withheld in full is itself worth appealing.

Administrative appeal. This is the first step and it is free. Section 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(III) requires an agency to give a requester a period of not less than 90 days after an adverse determination in which to appeal, and section 552(a)(6)(A)(ii) requires the agency to decide the appeal within 20 working days. Appeals succeed more often than people expect, because a second reviewer looks at the exemptions with fresh eyes and agencies would rather release at the appeal stage than defend a weak withholding in court. Address the appeal to the office named in the denial letter, quote your tracking number, and argue the specific exemption the agency invoked rather than restating why you want the records.

OGIS mediation. The Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives is the federal FOIA ombuds. Section 552(h)(3) directs OGIS to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between requesters and agencies as a nonexclusive alternative to litigation, and OGIS describes itself as a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) resource for the public and the government. Contact it at ogis@nara.gov, 202-741-5770, or toll-free at 1-877-684-6448. Because the statute frames mediation as nonexclusive, engaging OGIS is an addition to your options rather than a substitute for them.

Suit in federal district court. Section 552(a)(4)(B) gives the district court jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding records and to order production, and it allows you to file in the district where you reside, where you have your principal place of business, where the records are situated, or in the District of Columbia. The agency bears the burden of justifying its withholding. This is a real lawsuit, and it is the point at which counsel becomes worth considering, but the first two steps resolve the large majority of disputes without it.

Getting Your Own FBI File

A request for records about yourself is a first-party request, and the FBI processes it under both FOIA and the Privacy Act. The FBI offers two routes.

Online, through eFOIPA. The FBI's eFOIPA portal at efoia.fbi.gov accepts both FOIA and Privacy Act requests. The portal accepts first-party Privacy Act requests directly, and the FBI lists it as an alternative to the mail route rather than a supplement to it. The FBI does not publish the portal's identity-verification steps, so complete whatever certification the form presents.

By mail, with Form DOJ-361. If you write in instead, the FBI directs you to use the Department of Justice Certification of Identity Form DOJ-361. For a request about yourself, you must sign the request and either have your signature notarized or include the statutory declaration made under penalty of perjury. Notarization is one of two options, not a hard requirement, which is worth knowing if getting to a notary is the obstacle.

DOJ-361 is also the form used when you request records about another living person with that person's written consent. Without consent, records about a living third party are ordinarily withheld on personal privacy grounds.

Getting an Immigration A-File from USCIS

Immigration records, including the Alien File that holds an individual's immigration history, come from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services rather than from a general FOIA portal, and the filing method changed recently.

FIRST is now effectively the only route. USCIS's records guidance, last updated January 27, 2026, carries an alert stating that effective January 22, 2026, all FOIA and Privacy Act requests for USCIS records should be submitted online, that you must make the request online at first.uscis.gov after creating a USCIS account, and that online submission is generally the only acceptable method. first.uscis.gov requires a USCIS online account and routes through the standard USCIS sign-in.

Historical records of deceased immigrants go through the Genealogy Program instead. USCIS runs a separate fee-for-service Genealogy Program that provides researchers with access to historical immigration and naturalization records of deceased immigrants. It uses Form G-1041, the Genealogy Index Search Request, and Form G-1041A, the Genealogy Records Request. Both forms carry filing fees, and USCIS publishes the current amounts in its Form G-1055 fee schedule rather than on the program page, so check G-1055 for the amount in force before you file.

If you are asking for your own current immigration file, use FIRST. The Genealogy Program is for research into people who have died, and sending a first-party request there simply delays it.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. section 552, and about the FBI and USCIS records processes as they stood on August 4, 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Agency portals, forms, fees, and internal procedures change without notice; confirm current details on the agency's own FOIA page before filing. If you are considering litigation under section 552(a)(4)(B), or your request touches an ongoing legal matter, consult an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.

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Last updated: 2026-08-04. Statutory provisions and processing statistics reflect their in-force and published versions as of 2026-08-04.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it cost anything to file a FOIA request?

No. foia.gov states there is no initial fee required to submit a FOIA request. An agency may later charge search and duplication fees depending on your requester category, but 5 U.S.C. section 552(a)(4)(A)(iv) gives non-commercial requesters the first two hours of search time or the first 100 pages of duplication free. As foia.gov puts it, there is usually no charge for a small, well-targeted request. You can also cap your exposure by stating the maximum you are willing to pay and asking the agency to contact you before exceeding it.

How long does a FOIA request really take?

The statute requires a determination within 20 working days, plus up to 10 more working days if the agency gives written notice of unusual circumstances. Actual practice varies enormously and no single government-wide average exists. In fiscal year 2025, foia.gov's annual report data shows 415,108 of 585,406 processed simple-track requests closed within 1 to 20 days, while only 194,277 of 840,205 complex-track requests did, and 19,309 complex requests took more than 400 days.

What happens if an agency just ignores my request?

Silence past the statutory deadline is treated as a constructive denial, which means you do not have to wait indefinitely. You can file an administrative appeal, contact the Office of Government Information Services at ogis@nara.gov or 202-741-5770 for mediation, and file suit in federal district court under 5 U.S.C. section 552(a)(4)(B). Section 552(h)(3) describes OGIS mediation as a nonexclusive alternative to litigation, so using it does not close off the courthouse.

Do I need a lawyer to file a FOIA request?

No. FOIA was written to be used by the public directly, and the great majority of the 1.7 million requests filed in fiscal year 2025 came from people acting for themselves. Nothing in 5 U.S.C. section 552 requires a lawyer to file a request or an administrative appeal. Counsel becomes relevant only if you decide to sue in federal district court, since a lawsuit is a formal court proceeding.

Can I ask an agency any question I want under FOIA?

No. FOIA is a records statute, not a research service. As foia.gov states, the FOIA does not require agencies to create new records or to conduct research, analyze data, or answer questions. An agency must search for records that already exist and reasonably match your description. Rewriting a question as a request for the documents that would contain the answer, such as a specific report, contract, inspection file, or email thread, is what turns a dead-end question into a workable request.

Can I file a FOIA request anonymously?

Section 552(a)(3)(A) conditions access on two things only: that the request reasonably describes the records and that it follows the agency's published rules. It does not require you to explain why you want the records. As a practical matter, though, the agency needs a name and a delivery address to send records and fee notices to, and if you are asking for records about yourself the agency will require a certification of your identity. Requesters who do not want their name attached usually file through a third party rather than filing without any identifying information.

Can I use FOIA to get state, county, or police records?

No. FOIA applies to federal executive branch agencies. A city police report, a county property file, or a state agency's emails run under that state's public records law, which sets its own deadline, fee rules, and appeal path. Start with the state's statute on our public records laws by state hub. Vital records such as birth and death certificates are a separate track again, handled by state health departments under eligibility rules rather than by a records-act request.

What is the difference between a FOIA request and a Privacy Act request?

FOIA gives any person access to agency records generally. The Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. section 552a, gives an individual access to records an agency maintains about that individual, and it requires proof of identity. Many agencies, including the FBI, treat a first-party request as both at once and process it under whichever statute releases more. That is why the FBI directs first-party requesters to either the eFOIPA portal or Form DOJ-361 with a notarized signature or a perjury declaration.