Know Your Rights: How to Request Information from the FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) keeps files of certain individuals, including victims in cases and individuals, organizations, and businesses currently or previously under investigation. The Freedom of Information/Privacy Act (FOI/PA) allows United States citizens and lawfully admitted aliens to request information on themselves, or other living persons, and access their FBI files. There are two ways to submit a Freedom of Information/Privacy Act request:

1. Submit your request through the eFOIPA portal, which allows you to electronically request your file and provide a mailing address to the FBI, who will then send your records to you at that address. The eFOIPA portal can be found at https://efoia.fbi.gov/#home
2. Following the instructions on U.S. Department of Justice Certification of Identity Form DOJ-361, submit a letter, sign your request, and have it notarized or state:

   “Under penalty of perjury, I hereby declare that I am the person named above and I understand that any falsification of this statement is punishable under the provisions of Title 18, United States Code (U.S.C.), Section 1001 by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment of not more than five years, or both; and that requesting or obtaining any record(s) under false pretenses is punishable under the provisions of Title 5, U.S.C., Section 552a(i)(3) as a misdemeanor and by a fine of not more than $5,000.”

• That letter then must be mailed to:

  Federal Bureau of Investigation
  Attn: FOI/PA Request
  Record/Information Dissemination Section
  170 Marcel Dr
  Winchester, VA 22602-4843

• A sample letter can be viewed here: https://www.fbi.gov/services/information-management/foipa/sample-fbi-foia-request-letter

If you have questions about this process before submitting your FOIPA request, please e-mail foipaquestions@fbi.gov – to check on the status of your request, you can contact FOIPA’s Public Information Officer at (540) 868-4593.

The Department of Justice may deny your request, based on exemptions to the Freedom of Information/Privacy Act which allows certain information to remain classified. In the instance that your request is denied, you have the right to file an appeal letter. A sample of appeals letters broken down by which exemption is cited in your denial letter, can be found via the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, here: https://www.rcfp.org/federal-foia-appeals-guide/sample-appeal-letters-and-templates