FOIA Basics

Introduction
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), is a United States law that generally gives any person or organization (including non-US citizens) the right to access records of federal executive branch agencies upon request, unless they fall within a number of exemptions. FOIA is codified in the United States Code in Title 5, Section 552 (5 U.S.C. § 552). The general purpose of FOIA is to promote access to information about the federal government and to ensure the public has information to participate in democratic governance.

What FOIA does and who it applies to
FOIA applies to agencies within the executive branch of the federal government. It gives almost everyone the right to request existing records of agencies that can be reproduced (such as memos, emails, reports, and audio and video files). Note that a requestor cannot ask agencies to answer a question or to compile information that does not already exist through a FOIA request.

The "agencies" that are subject to FOIA include most entities in the executive branch, for example, the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission. Sometimes larger departments have components that are themselves agencies, which independently accept and process FOIA requests. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example, is within the Department of Justice but has an independent FOIA process.

While FOIA applies to many entities within the Executive Office of the President, it does not apply to the President or their immediate personal staff, or the Vice President.

FOIA does not apply to Congress, the federal courts, private corporations or federally funded state agencies.

The federal FOIA also does not apply to state or local governments. All states and the District of Columbia have their own “open records” laws that provide access to records of state and local agencies.

How to start
FOIA requests must satisfy three requirements: A basic template for FOIA requests is available on the Making a FOIA Request page.
 * 1) The request be made in writing,
 * 2) The request must reasonably describe the records being sought, and
 * 3) The request must follow the agency's FOIA regulations.

Address your request letter to the FOIA officer at the appropriate agency or subdivision. You can find out how agencies accept requests and where to send them by visiting the agency's website or by finding their information on the FOIA Wiki's Agencies Landing Page.

Be sure to include your contact information with the request so the agency knows how to get in touch with you. It is generally a good idea to provide both an email address and a mailing address.

Once you have filed a FOIA request, the burden is on the government to release the documents or to show that they are covered by one of the FOIA exemptions.

Some other basic tips:
 * Consider researching whether the records/information being sought are already available online before filing a FOIA request. Most agencies maintain electronic "reading rooms" of documents that have been previously requested and released. The FBI and CIA, for example, maintain fairly large, searchable caches of documents.
 * Requesters seeking structured datasets may want to research whether the data is available through the federal government's open data portal.
 * If you need assistance with writing and submitting your request, you can use one of several FOIA tools on the Internet, including iFOIA.org, Muckrock, and FOIA Machine. The federal government also maintains a FOIA portal that allows the submission of requests to many federal agencies and contact information for all agencies.
 * If you mail your request, mark the outside of the envelope “FOIA Request.” Similarly, if you email it be sure that the subject line includes the words "FOIA Request".
 * You should keep a copy of your request and note how it was sent. These will be important for following up on the request if the agency does not provide access to the records.
 * Depending on the circumstances, you may be required to pay various types of fees in connection with your request, unless your are entitled to reduced fees or a fee waiver. See the pages on Fees and Fee Categories and Fee Waivers for more details.

What happens after a request is submitted?
Following submission of a FOIA request, the agency will first provide an acknowledgement letter with tracking number to the requestor for use future correspondence between the requester and the agency.

The agency will then conduct a search for responsive records and process them to determine whether (from the agency's perspective) the records or portions thereof are exempt under one or more of FOIA's nine exemptions. The agency will then provide the requester with a determination letter setting forth whether it is releasing all, some, or no records, and the basis for withholding records.

Timing of the agency's response
Agencies must generally make a determination with respect to an ordinary FOIA request within 20 working days. As a practical matter, agencies generally take much longer than 20 business days to respond to a request. Large requests frequently take months or years to process.

Agencies may extend the normal 20-working day deadline if "unusual circumstances" apply, such as the need to collect a "voluminous" amount of records or the need to consult with another agency.

A requester can ask for Expedited Processing of their request if certain conditions are met. An agency must make a determination as to whether to grant expedited processing within 10 calendar days.

Requester options for agency delay/non-responsiveness
An agency is required, in most circumstances, to provide a determination with respect to a request within 20 business days, and the responsive records must be made "promptly available" thereafter. Note that merely acknowledging receipt of a request and providing a tracking number does not qualify as a determination.

If an agency fails to meet its determination deadline, a requester has several options, some (but not all) of which are mutually exclusive:


 * 1) The requester can call the agency's FOIA office to request an estimated date of completion for the request. While such an estimate may be helpful, note that agencies are not bound by such estimates, and can (and frequently do) revise them. If you need to find the contact information for the agency, search for it in the search bar above or browse the agency information landing page.
 * 2) The requester can file an administrative appeal with the agency challenging its failure to abide by the statutory deadline. Note that some agencies, like the Department of Justice, do not generally consider administrative appeals challenging an agency's tardiness.
 * 3) The requester can seek the assistance of OGIS, the federal FOIA ombudsman. OGIS can help a requester ascertain the status of their request when the agency is unresponsive, and also has mediation services.
 * 4) The requester can file a lawsuit to challenge the agency's failure to abide by FOIA's statutory deadlines.

Requester options for an agency's claim of exemption
If an agency claims that some or all records responsive to a request are exempt, the first avenue for the requestor to challenge the agency's claim(s) is through an Administrative Appeal. Requesters generally have 90 calendar days to file an administrative appeal following an adverse determination.

A requester can also seek assistance from OGIS, although it is generally a good idea to also file an administrative appeal to ensure the requester does not miss their deadline.

If the agency affirms a denial of records in response to an administrative appeal, the requester may challenge the denial in federal district court.

Other FOIA starter guides

 * Reporters Committee's Federal Open Government Guide
 * 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
 * National Security Archive: The Freedom of Information Act: A Practical User's Guide
 * Public Citizen: The Freedom of Information Act: A User's Guide