How Much Does a FOIA Request Cost?

A FOIA request has no single price. Each agency that holds your records sets its own fees under its own rules, so the total depends on the agency and the records you ask for. This page explains the immigration fees that often come up in removal defense, adjustment of status, and naturalization cases, so you can plan before you pay.

Immigration-related FOIA and Privacy Act rules are located in 6 CFR part 5, according to the eCFR text of 8 CFR 103.42. Keep two costs apart. A records charge is one cost. A filing fee for a USCIS benefit or an immigration court appeal is another.

What a FOIA request costs at the federal level

Each federal agency sets FOIA charges under its own rules, so start by finding out which agency holds your file. Immigration records often sit with USCIS, ICE or the FBI, and each one follows its own process. Ask that agency how it calculates charges before you send any payment.

USCIS is a useful reference point. It receives 96 percent of its funding from filing fees, according to its policy manual, rather than from congressional appropriations. That is why a USCIS request total can include more than the form fee. Additional fees, such as a biometric services fee, may apply. Payments must come from a bank or other institution located in the United States, in U.S. currency, under 8 CFR 106.1.

Who can request someone else’s immigration file

A family member who wants another person’s USCIS file needs written permission first. USCIS requires a written, signed and notarized privacy release from the applicant or petitioner before it responds to a non-congressional third-party inquiry, as the USCIS Policy Manual on privacy explains.

The release should name the information the person wants disclosed. USCIS staff accept it by fax or email only when the signature on the original is handwritten, not typed or stamped. A release with a typed signature, or one that doesn’t name the records, can hold up the whole request.

Immigration filing fees are separate from records charges

Filing fees in an immigration case are set by regulation, not by a records request. Form I-601, the application for waiver of a ground of inadmissibility, carries a $1,050 fee under the 8 CFR 106.2 fee list. Other forms carry their own fees, so check the current form instructions before you file.

Immigration court and appeal payments follow different rules. According to 8 CFR 103.7, fees for proceedings before immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals are Department of Justice fees governed by separate DOJ regulations, and an immigration judge may waive those fees for cases under their jurisdiction to the extent those regulations allow. Two details matter here. Also, checks to the Board must be payable to the “United States Department of Justice.”

Fee waivers and reduced fees

You can ask USCIS to waive a filing fee if you cannot afford it. A person demonstrates an inability to pay the prescribed fee by showing at least one of the following at the time of filing: receipt of a means-tested benefit, household income at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or extreme financial hardship, under 8 CFR 106.3.

Your request must be in writing. It should state your belief that you are entitled to or deserving of the benefit, your reasons for not being able to pay, and evidence supporting those reasons. There is no appeal of a denied fee waiver request, so the first submission should be complete.

Families can save effort. One request can cover eligible family-related applications filed together, according to the USCIS Policy Manual on fee waivers. Waivers have limits, though. USCIS cannot waive fees required by H.R.-1, and it rejects requests postmarked or submitted electronically on or after August 21, 2025 without those fees; if your request is otherwise eligible for a fee waiver under 8 CFR 106.3(a), you may still seek a waiver of the regular filing fee but must pay the H.R.-1 fee separately.

Deadlines, payment and timing

A fee waiver request does not pause a deadline. The USCIS Policy Manual on fee waivers says filing one does not toll or pause other applicable deadlines, such as the deadline for an appeal or motion. If a fee waiver request is rejected, the requestor must endeavor to re-file within the applicable timeframe.

This matters in removal cases. Mark the appeal or motion deadline first, then file any waiver request well before it. USCIS uses the postmark date to decide which form version and fees apply, but it uses the receipt date for regulatory and statutory filing deadlines.

Payment problems matter too. If a bank does not honor a payment, USCIS issues no receipt, and a receipt already issued becomes void. The benefit request then loses its receipt date. Build time into your plan, and pay from an account that will clear.

What FOIA may not reach in a USCIS file

A records request can carry a charge, because each agency sets its own terms. But some information in a USCIS file came from other agencies. Information from ICE, the FBI or the U.S. Department of State may appear in USCIS files. It must not be released in response to an inquiry, though it may be appropriate to refer the inquiry to another agency, per the USCIS Policy Manual on privacy.

That means you may need a separate request to the agency that created the record. Sort your list by agency before you send anything. Keep a copy of each request, each fee receipt and each reply. Requests for your own records and requests for another person’s records follow different steps, so label each one clearly.

Requesting your own immigration records and first steps

If a family member is held in ICE custody, start with the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. ICE describes it as the official tool for locating individuals held in ICE immigration detention. Having the detainee’s location in hand makes the next steps much clearer.

For your own file, first identify the agency that holds it, which is usually USCIS for benefit files. Then check that agency’s fee and privacy rules before you send payment. Use the same name and date of birth on every form.

A removal defense matter often needs records from several agencies at once. One list of agencies, fees and deadlines keeps that work organized and helps you spot a missing item early.

Talk with AG Immigration Law P.A. about your records

If you’re trying to get a loved one’s immigration file while a removal case is moving forward, the fee and timing rules here can feel like a lot at once. You don’t have to sort them out alone.

Frequently asked questions