Get Your Immigration File from USCIS via FOIA, Apply Online
To get your own immigration file, submit a request through FIRST, USCIS’s FOIA system, using your USCIS online account; you need to give your full name, current address, and date and place of birth, and each person’s file needs its own request. USCIS says released records can be downloaded from the same online account, and you check status with the FOIA control number in your receipt message.
This article follows USCIS’s FOIA page: how to request, what to fill in, how requests are prioritized when you have an immigration court hearing scheduled, how to read the result, and which records other agencies hold.
How to request
USCIS explains (USCIS request records through FOIA or the Privacy Act):
- Online: sign in to your USCIS online account and submit the request in FIRST, the FOIA system.
- What you can request: your own immigration records, someone else’s, or agency records such as policies, data and communications.
- One person per request: each person’s records need a separate request, even for family members.
- Representatives: a representative can request on your behalf but must provide your identity verification information.
What to fill in
- Required: the full name, current address, and date and place of birth of the person the records are about.
- Optional: an A-Number (a seven-to-nine-digit number assigned by DHS), parents’ names and a passport number can help locate records; they aren’t required.
- Protected people: people protected under 8 U.S.C. § 1367 or the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) can use a post office box or safe address.
If you have an immigration court hearing scheduled
- Priority: submit the request online with proof of the hearing, and USCIS will prioritize it.
- Accepted proof: Form I-862, I-122 or I-863, a written continuance notice, or an EOIR ACIS printout.
Status and results
- Checking status: check in FIRST using the FOIA control number in your receipt message.
- Results: your account will show “Records Available” or “Records Not Available”; if records aren’t available, you may need to make a new request.
- Disputing a decision: follow the appeal instructions in your determination letter; the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) also offers mediation.
Records held by other agencies
- CBP: apprehension and entry records.
- State Department: visa records.
- ICE: bond and student records.
- USCIS Genealogy Program: records of people born more than 100 years ago.
For what A-Numbers and receipt numbers are, see Immigration Terms, A-Number, EAD and Receipt Number Defined; for tracking cases in your USCIS online account, see Track Cases in Your USCIS Account, Add Each Receipt Number.
What this article did not check
- Fees: the page doesn’t say, so this article doesn’t either.
- How long it takes: the page doesn’t say, so this article doesn’t either.
- Requests by mail: the page only describes requesting online, and this article did not check other ways.
- What consent is needed to request someone else’s records: the page only says USCIS considers whether the person gave proper consent and doesn’t explain how to get it, so this article doesn’t cover it.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I request my own immigration file?
Through FIRST, the FOIA system, using your USCIS online account.
Can my whole family file one request?
No. USCIS says each person’s records need a separate request.
Do I need an A-Number?
No. The required items are full name, current address, and date and place of birth; an A-Number is optional but can help locate records.
My immigration court hearing is coming up. Can it be faster?
Yes. Submit online with proof of the hearing, such as Form I-862, and USCIS will prioritize your request.
Sources and dates checked
All checked on 2026-10-31.
- USCIS, Request Records through the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act (page updated 2026-10-30):https://www.uscis.gov/records/request-records-through-the-freedom-of-information-act-or-privacy-act