Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Your Rights to DHS Information under FOIA

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal statute. FOIA generally provides that any person has a right to request access to federal agency records. FOIA also establishes a presumption that records in the possession of agencies and departments of the Executive Branch of the U. S. government are accessible to the people, except to the extent the records are protected from disclosure by any of nine exemptions contained in the law or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A FOIA REQUEST

How To Submit a FOIA Request

Information on how to submit a FOIA request and how to submit a Privacy Act request; fee structure, waivers, processing information and limits on FOIA requests.
Check Status of Request

DHS Requests Response Time for Processed and Pending Requests - Average No. of Days Simple is 21.24 Days and Complex is 111.59 Days. For component specific response times, please refer to the latest FOIA annual report.
FOIA Library

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires agencies to make records available for public in paper and electronic form. DHS PRIV maintains libraries for itself, the Office of the Secretary (including the Military Advisor’s Office and the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs), and the following components: CISOMB, DNDO, ESEC, FEMA, MGMT, NPPD, OHA, OGC, OLA, OPA, PLCY, and TSA.
FOIA Contact Information

Contact information for filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
FOIA Exemptions

Concise Descriptions of the FOIA Exemptions and examples of Information DHS May Withhold under each exemption.
FOIA Statutes & Resources

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Statutes and online Resources.
Subscribe to FOIA Library Notifications

Sign up to receive free e-mails to get updates on different DHS.gov topics.
DHS Component FOIA Libraries

Click on a link to access a specific DHS Component FOIA library