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USCIS · Request closures · Request IRW-007

Records behind the identity-proof guidance

This request asks for records from July 1 to September 16, 2025 about how USCIS developed its September 16, 2025 guidance on proof of identity for records requests. It asks for drafts, legal review records, estimates of the effect on workload, meeting records and emails.

Why it matters
The guidance sets what proof of identity people must give when they ask for records. These records could show what was considered before it took effect.
ProcessingExtension invoked 60 business days since filing (87 calendar days)

Figures as of Oct 17, 2026. Check after Nov 16, 2026: if you are reading later than that, these figures may be out of date.

These figures are more than 30 days old. They may not reflect what has happened since Oct 17, 2026.

Extension invoked
USCIS told the requester it would invoke the 10-working-day "unusual circumstances" extension the law allows (5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)). What an extension means

Timeline

  1. FiledJul 22, 2026
  2. Acknowledged by USCISAug 25, 2026
  3. Final responseNot yet received

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Template T-04
All records dated July 1, 2025 through September 16, 2025 concerning the development of the September 16, 2025 Verification of Identity (VOI) guidance issued by the USCIS FOIA Program, including drafts and redline versions, legal review or sign-off records, impact analyses or workload projections, meeting agendas and calendar invitations for meetings at which the draft guidance was discussed, and email correspondence among National Records Center and FOIA Program leadership (including the National Records Center Director and the USCIS FOIA Officer) referencing the VOI guidance, closure categories, Failure to Comply (FC) or No Record (NR) rates, or A-File backlog projections.
How to file it