FOIA requests

[corrado]

Has anyone got a FOIA request answered recenly? I sent it in in July and and still wiating. I talked to the lady on the phone there and she refused to give me a time frame?

[AnotherCitizenToBe]

Has anyone got a FOIA request answered recenly? I sent it in in July and and still wiating. I talked to the lady on the phone there and she refused to give me a time frame?

I mailed a formal request on April 16, 2007. A few weeks later I received a letter dated April 26 stating that my request was received and entered into the system on that date.

In early September 2007, I telephoned to request a status update, using the telephone number and "control number" which had been assigned to my case and mentioned in the earlier letter. I was told verbally (and received a follow-up letter in the mail dated September 11) that, "Your request is currently number 57934 on the list of 82015 pending cases to be worked."

The consensus is that FOIA requests are taking 2 years to process. Grrr...

Have you received the inital letter indicating your request was entered into the system? If not, take a look at this USCIS web page. I am not certain that it applies to FOIA requests, but it indicates to "customers that, due to a tremendous increase in the number of applications filed, processing of fee payments and entry of cases into our tracking system is behind schedule. As a result, applicants can expect notices of receipt to be delayed."

What a joke. Try telling any government agency (such as the IRS) that you are very busy and therefore your required submission (annual tax return?) will be late with no promise date available at this time. See what happens when the shoe is on the other foot.

By the way, are you absolutely certain that your ancester *did not* naturalize? Frankly, from what I can determine, this is the *only* reason you should be going the USCIS/FOIA route. If your ancester *did* naturalize, there are ways of obtaining the records which do not involve USCIS and often take less than 10 days.

[drovedo]

These can take a long time. It depends. Good Luck.