RSSUSCIS FOIA Processing Handbook
Jun 06
Uncategorized FOI Processing Guide, Government Manuals, Immigration, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS No Comments
On August 2, 2010 a FOIA request was made to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via email. The request sought “all documentation and training material made available to USCIS employees or contractors concerning the policies and practices of processing FOIA requests.”
Nearly 10 months later, on May 31, 2011, a CD arrived in the mail from USCIS containing a 1,161 page PDF file of approximately 22 Megabytes. USCIS is to be commended on their use of modern technology. The FBI would have responded to this request requiring a $45 fee after splitting the request into three CDs at $15 each. The FBI processes requests in 500 page increments causing this problem in their agency. At the compression rate use by USCIS, they could fit 37,760 pages on a single CD in PDF format, while the FBI lags behind at a mere 500.
These 1,161 pages give a unique insight into the thinking and training of the person who will be processing your FOIA requests. Going through this handbook will allow FOIA requesters to understand exactly how their request will be handled and possibly allow them to tailer their request to better fit the USCIS processes.
Download the full manual here as a PDF.
Jason Smathers is a MuckRock user and contributor as well as an independent investigative journalist. You can follow his writing on his website.
