30-Day Public Comment Matrix

G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22

Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments

Comment Public Comments
#
Comment Commenter:
1.
USCIS-2008-0028-0085
Anonymous
On the current G-639, on page 2, the subject of record
under part 3, question 1: asked to state the purpose of
their request and on page 3, still under part 3, question
16, again asked the subject of record to describe the
records they are seeking. Both questions 1 and 16 are
asked differently but basically asking the same thing. If
one of these questions could be eliminated that would be
helpful.
Comment Commenter:
2.
USCIS-2008-0028-0087
Suzanne Hoffman
OMB Control Number 1615-0102 USCIS, Docket ID USCIS2008-0028
Comment for improvement of the Form G-639; Online
FOIA Request
Clarification is needed for a requestor who may be a
professional being hired to acquire records on behalf of
Subject of Record or subject's family. Part 2
"Representative Role" is not carried forward in the
remainder of the questions in terms of how they relate to
the Subject of Record. Answering 2.b. then 3.b. does not
make sense, but may if you are hired by a relative of the
deceased.

USCIS Response

Response:
The field, “State the purpose of your request” was eliminated and
does not appear in the draft Form G-639 posted for comment.
Instead, requestors are asked to describe the records sought under
“Request Specific Documents”. See draft Form G-639 at
https://www.regulations.gov/document/USCIS-2008-0028-0081.

Response:
In the new draft Form G-639, USCIS consolidated potential
responses and changed phrasing to improve requestors’ options to
answer the question.
The kind of requestor the commentor identified could now select
only:
“B. I am requesting information about someone who is deceased;”
For context, the question now appears as follows:
3. Third-Party Requestor’s Relationship to the Subject of Record
What is the relationship of the subject of record to the third-party
requestor?
If you are requesting information or amendment or correction of
records on behalf of the subject of record (select only one for Items
A. – F.):
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G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments

USCIS Response
[ ] A. I am an attorney or accredited representative, acting on behalf
of the subject of record
[ ] B. I am requesting information about someone who is deceased;
[ ] C. I am requesting information on behalf of my child or a minor
for whom I am a legal guardian
[ ] D. Other (Explain): [Fillable field]
If you are requesting information about a subject of record with
whom you have no relationship:
[ ] E. I am requesting as a member of the media
[ ] F. Other (Explain): [Fillable field]

To avoid redaction and a subsequent re-request for nonredacted files, having death dates of additional family
members and parents for the section "Information about
Family Members that May appear on Requested Records,"
will avoid the second request for a cleaner copy of the
initial file. It add a single line to each family member
identified. This death date addition will simplify the
process of document review.

Comment Commenter:
3.
USCIS-2008-0028-0087
ILRC, AILA, American Immigration Council
3
The undersigned organizations respectfully submit the
following comments in connection with Docket ID USCIS2008-0028; OMB Control Number 1615-0102; Agency

Response:
USCIS considers the privacy interests of all individuals mentioned in
records when reviewing requests made under the Freedom of
Information Act. To receive information pertaining to each person
mentioned in records, your request must generally provide each
person’s consent to disclose information to you or evidence that
they are deceased. This information should be included as an
uploaded document when filing online or as additional information
when mailing your G-639. As a result of this comment, USCIS will add
additional language to Form G-639 and its corresponding online
system, FIRST, to better articulate this process to the public.

No response required

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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments
G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
USCIS Response
#
Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently
Approved Collection: Form G-639; Online FOIA Request
published in the Federal Register on April 5, 2022. I.
Introduction of Stakeholders and Expertise The Immigrant
Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national non-profit
organization that provides legal trainings, educational
materials, and advocacy to advance immigrant rights. The
ILRC’s mission is to work with and educate immigrants,
community organizations, and the legal sector to continue
to build a democratic society that values diversity and the
rights of all people. Since its inception in 1979, the ILRC
has provided technical assistance on hundreds of
thousands of immigration law issues, trained thousands of
advocates and pro bono attorneys annually on
immigration law, distributed thousands of practitioner
guides, provided expertise to immigrantled advocacy
efforts across the country, and supported hundreds of
immigration legal non-profit organizations in building
their capacity. The ILRC has produced legal trainings,
practice advisories, manuals and other materials
pertaining to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as it
pertains to the practice of immigration law. We also
advocate for expansion of government transparency in all
sectors. ILRC operates a national technical assistance line
to assist immigration attorneys as they navigate through
records requests for their clients and write some of the
only national resources on FOIA requests for individual
immigration cases. Because of our focus on this complex
area of the law, we have a distinct interest in ensuring
that Form G-639 and accompanying instructions are clear
and understandable to applicants. The American
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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments
G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
USCIS Response
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Immigration Council is a not-for-profit educational and
charitable organization. The Council was established to
increase public understanding of immigration law and
policy, advocate for the fair and just administration of U.S.
immigration laws, protect the legal rights of noncitizens
and citizens, and educate the public about the enduring
contributions of immigrants. Through research, analysis,
litigation and transparency work, the Council seeks to
hold the government accountable for unlawful conduct
and restrictive interpretations of the law and for failing to
ensure that the immigration laws are implemented and
executed in a manner that comports with due process.
The Council publishes practice materials and conducts
numerous trainings each year explaining the process for
requesting information under FOIA from immigration
agencies. Clarity regarding the process for requesting
information from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS)—an agency with one of the largest FOIA
caseloads of any agency within the federal government—
is critical to the Council’s ability to provide sound advice
to immigration practitioners. The American Immigration
Lawyers Association (AILA), established in 1946, is a
voluntary bar association of more than 16,000 attorneys
and law professors practicing, researching, and teaching in
the field of immigration and nationality law. Our mission
includes the advancement of the law pertaining to
immigration and nationality and the facilitation of justice
in the field. AILA members regularly advise and represent
businesses, U.S. citizens, U.S. lawful permanent residents,
and foreign nationals regarding the application and
interpretation of U.S. immigration laws. Our members’
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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments
G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
USCIS Response
#
collective expertise and experience makes us particularly
well-qualified to offer views that will benefit the public
and the government.
II. Comments on the Proposed Form/Instructions We note No response required
that USCIS has added language to the Form G-639
Instructions that advises applicants that there is an
alternative method for filing FOIA requests through an
online system—Freedom of Information Records System
(FIRST). Some of the new instructions are repeated on the
USCIS web page. See USCIS website, Request Records
through the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act,
https://www.uscis.gov/records/request-records-throughthe-freedom-ofinformation-act-or-privacy-act. To ensure
the instructions accurately reflect the requirements under
the FOIA statute and are clear to FOIA requesters, we
suggest changes to the proposed revisions to the Form G639 Instructions.
1. The Instructions should lessen language
Response:
advocating the use of FIRST.
As stated on the draft Form G-639, requests for records may be
USCIS’ suggested changes to the Instructions include
submitted online at www.uscis.gov/foia, using Form G-639, or in
language that heavily promotes the use of FIRST. While
writing in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of
there are advantages to a more efficient and streamlined
Information Act. However, the most efficient way to submit a
process for submitting FOIA requests, FIRST is still a
request is online. Online requests allow requestors to submit
relatively new program and there is no publicly available
requests instantly, track their progress, receive responses as soon as
assessment or data explaining FIRST’s efficiencies in
they are ready, and download records whenever they are needed.
detail. While it is understandable that USCIS would like to USCIS is committed to processing requests in all forms received, and
inform FOIA requesters and their representatives that
we feel it is important to educate the public about how they can
FIRST is an available alternative to the Form G-639, we
submit their requests as efficiently as possible.
suggest that language lauding FIRST not be the focus of
Instructions for the Form G-639—a Form intended for
FOIA requests when an individual chooses not to use
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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments
G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
USCIS Response
#
FIRST. It is also important to note that statutory
timeframes for making a determination on a FOIA request
are the same for FOIA requests submitted 1) with a G-639,
2) in writing without use of the Form, and 3) through
FIRST. Language in the Instructions that states the FIRST
system processes FOIA requests more quickly and
efficiently is problematic to the extent it implies a person
may not receive a response to a FOIA request in the
relatively short statutory timeframe—twenty or thirty
days—using other methods. See Instructions, pp. 1-2 X
(“Our online FOIA and PA services are a more efficient
way to request and receive records than by using Form G639 to make a request.”). We recommend deleting the
five paragraphs of additions to the instructions at p. 2 X
that begin with “Our online FOIA and PA services are a
more efficient way …”.
2. The Form G-639 should not require country of
Response:
birth information; FIRST should not require
mandatory information verifying identity to
If you are requesting records about a person with whom you have
complete an online FOIA request.
no relationship, we will no longer require country of birth in FIRST or
The revision to the Form G-639 should remove the field
on Form G-639. However, we will continue to require country of
“Country of Birth.” At a minimum, the Form G-639 and
birth in other instances, in accordance with the verification of
Instructions should explicitly state that an individual’s
identity and verification of guardianship provisions of 6 CFR § 5.21.
country of birth is not required to process a FOIA request.
An individual might not want to share their country of
Please note, the more information we receive in a FOIA request,
birth with a government agency because this admission
including country of birth, the better we may locate the records and
may seriously impact their immigration case. In removal
information you request.
proceedings, the government has the burden of proving
an individual’s alienage. 1 Practitioners report that the
government sometimes uses FOIA requests as evidence of
alienage when country of birth is provided in the Form G6

Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments
G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
USCIS Response
#
639. Because a person’s country of birth is only one
means of verifying identity and sharing country of birth
information could be damaging to a person’s immigration
case, the request for country of birth should be removed
from the Form G-639.
Though the Form G-639 could be more explicit that
country of birth information is not required, immigration
practitioners report that USCIS often will process a FOIA
request even when the “Country of Birth” field is not
completed. In contrast, the FIRST system does not permit
an individual to submit a FOIA request without providing
this information.
USCIS released FIRST—a digital FOIA submission and
tracking system for USCIS records—in June 2019.2 USCIS
claims that it allows FOIA requesters to submit their
requests faster than physical mail submissions.3 This
online system requires the user to set up an online
MyUSCIS account to track requests and receive requested
documents digitally. It also requires the following
information: purpose of request, name, aliases, mailing
address, country of birth, and information about family
members.4 The system does not allow an individual to
complete an online FOIA submission without providing
this information.
Many individuals may not want to provide all of this
information because they do not want to enter their
country of birth and concede alienage or provide
information about their family members.
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G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments

USCIS Response

By creating and promoting an online form that only can be
submitted when all requested information is provided, the
agency is compelling individuals to concede alienage. In
order to submit a FOIA request to obtain information
necessary to defend against removal or assess eligibility
for immigration relief without conceding alienage, a
person would need to ignore USCIS’ strong
recommendation to use the FIRST system and 1) complete
a Form G-639 without providing country of birth, or 2)
submit a request in writing without a Form G-639. We
suggest FIRST eliminate the field requesting country of
birth information or, at a minimum, not require that
information to submit the form online.
The Instructions should clearly state FIRST is one option
Response:
among others for submitting a FOIA request
The draft Form G-639 begins by explaining its purpose: to enable the
public to request access to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
FOIA requires that requests for agency records be
(USCIS) records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
reasonably described and in writing and the agency has
outlined acceptable methods for submission, including 1)
It then lists the options to make a FOIA or PA Request with USCIS as:
with a G-639, 2) in writing without use of the Form G-639,
 Online at www.uscis.gov/foia;
and 3) through FIRST. Though FIRST may provide some
 Using this Form G-639; or
efficiencies, not all individuals will want to create a
 In writing and in accordance with the requirements of the
MyUSCIS account and submit a FOIA request online,
FOIA and PA.
either because of personal preference, access to
computers, or inability to deal with challenges associated As a means of guiding requestors to the best possible experience,
with creating an online account.
the draft Form G-639 and the uscis.gov/foia webpage explain that
our online FOIA and PA services are the most efficient way to
The USCIS webpage already heavily discourages applicants request and receive records among other options. They in no way
from using a Form G-639. Under the listing for the Form
indicate that a requestor may jeopardize their immigration case
G-639, the first line directs requesters to use the FIRST
using Form G-639, Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Request.
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Responses to 30-Day FRN Public Comments
G-639; Online FOIA Request Revision
87 FR 19697
4/5/22-5/5/22
Comment Public Comments
USCIS Response
#
process.5 Only after scrolling through a page of
information does an applicant arrive at the Form G-639
with information about where to file it by mail. 6
The agency’s failure to clearly communicate the methods
for accessing and completing the Form G-639 on its
website is regrettable and the extensive discussion about
the FIRST process in the Form G-639 Instructions is
confusing and unnecessary. Though USCIS may prefer
FIRST, it is the decision of the requester and their
representative how to approach the FOIA submission
process. Where critical decisions regarding an immigration
case will be informed by the records obtained through a
FOIA, an individual should clearly understand their
options and proceed with confidence that they will not
jeopardize their immigration case in the process of trying
to resolve it.
Sincerely, Peggy Gleason Senior Staff Attorney, on behalf
of ILRC

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