Any individual, including non-immigrants, Green Card holders and US citizens, can file FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests with the USCIS and request copies of their USCIS records. To obtain immigration records from USCIS, customers must file Form G-639, Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Request. They can file this form to request access to information under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. They can also request immigration records by sending letters to the USCIS. Customers must send their requests by mail or fax to the National Records Center. FOIA requests are being controlled and processed by an automated system known as the Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Information Processing System (FIPS).
USCIS customers who seek to determine the status of the applications they have filed with the USCIS must not file this form. They need to contact the USCIS office where they filed their forms or the National Customer Service Center for information on their pending applications.
This form must not be used for consular notification of a visa petition approval and for the return of original supporting documents. To request naturalization records created before September 27, 1906, they need to contact the clerk of the court where the naturalization took place; they must not file Form G-639 to obtain those naturalization records.
This form is not meant for the customers who seek to obtain information on USCIS manifest arrivals dated before December 1982. To obtain this information, they need to contact the National Archives. Likewise, this USCIS form must not be filed to obtain proof of status.
Only the edition of Form G-639, dated 01/29/12 will be accepted and the USCIS will not accept previous editions. There is no filing fee for this form but the applicants must submit the required fee when the USCIS requests them to do so. USCIS will not process applications if the information provided by the applicants is insufficient. Only applications that are completely filled will be processed by the USCIS.
