Basics: FOIA Letters

Drafting a FOIA request letter requires that you understand several things about the records you are requesting, the practices of the agency you're seeking records from, and your own status as a requester. When you're ready to draft a letter, we recommend that you use our iFOIA.org service, which walks you through each step of the letter and explains the various requirements. When the letter is complete, iFOIA can email it to an agency, and it also helps you organize and catalog your requests and the agency responses to them. There is no charge for the iFOIA service.

You can instead read about the various steps in our Federal Open Government Guide. There are many other guides available as well, from journalism, advocacy and government groups.

Starter Guides

 * FOIA.gov (DOJ): How to Make a FOIA Request
 * House Comm. on Gov't Reform: Citizen's Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act
 * Nat'l Secur. Archive: The Freedom of Information Act: A Practical User's Guide
 * Public Citizen: The Freedom of Information Act: A User's Guide