Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA)

Welcome to USAID's Freedom of Information Act web site. This area is designed to provide you with information pertinent to retrieving publicly available information from the Agency.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.

• Department of Justice FOIA Memorandum (2009)
• Department of Justice FOIA Memorandum and Guidelines [PDF] (2009)
• Text of the FOIA (showing changes made by the OPEN Government Act of 2007 and the Open FOIA Act of 2009) [PDF]
• FOIA.gov - What Is FOIA?

FOIA Processing at USAID

The Bureau for Management, Office of Management Services, Information and Records Division (M/MS/IRD) is the central processing point for requests for USAID records contained in Washington, D.C. and its overseas missions. All FOIA requests must be submitted to this office.

How To Make A FOIA Request For USAID Records

FOIA requests must be submitted in writing either online via our new web-portal Public Access Link, email at [email protected], fax on (202) 916-4990 or regular mail. Please include your mailing address, email address and phone number with your request. While our FOIA Specialists are happy to answer questions about our FOIA program and/or help you formulate your request over the phone, we cannot accept FOIA requests by phone.

To submit your request online, please click here https://foiarequest.usaid.gov (Pop up must not be blocked on your browser for this site to work correctly).

Submit your request via regular mail to:

U.S. Agency for International Development
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
USAID Annex, M/MS/IRD, Room 2.4.0A
Washington, DC 20523

Please mark your envelope with the notation, “FOIA Request.” Formulating Your Request

Our ability to respond expeditiously and responsively to your request is dependent upon the clarity of your request. Please provide as much descriptive information as possible. List the types of documents that you want and the timeframe of the documents that should govern our search. If you know which USAID offices have the documents that you are looking for, please identify the offices.

We receive many requests for procurement documents: solicitations, proposals, and contracts. Sometimes our requesters only provide us with the solicitation number. If possible, when you are requesting winning proposals and resulting awards please provide the following additional information: the office that issued the solicitation, the title of the solicitation, the name of the successful bidder, and the number of the resulting award.

The FOIA allows agencies to charge requesters for FOIA search, review and copying services. In your request letter, please indicate your willingness to pay processing fees and the dollar amount you are willing to pay.

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON USAID'S FOIA PROCESSING FEES

Please remember to give us a phone number in your request letter that we can use if we have questions about your request.

Several characteristics of the FOIA should be kept in mind. As a general rule, agencies are not required to create records in order to respond to FOIA requests. Nor are agencies required to answer questions posed as FOIA requests. Please remember that the FOIA pertains only to existing records and that requests cannot be made for "future" records not yet created.

Our ability to respond expeditiously and responsively to your request is dependent upon the clarity of your request. Please provide as much descriptive information as possible. List the types of documents that you want and the timeframe of the documents that should govern our search. If you know which USAID offices have the documents that you are looking for, please identify the offices.

We receive many requests for procurement documents: solicitations, proposals, and contracts. Sometimes our requesters only provide us with the solicitation number. If possible, when you are requesting winning proposals and resulting awards please provide the following additional information: the office that issued the solicitation, the title of the solicitation, the name of the successful bidder, and the number of the resulting award.

The FOIA allows agencies to charge requesters for FOIA search, review and copying services. In your request letter, please indicate your willingness to pay processing fees and the dollar amount you are willing to pay.

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ON USAID'S FOIA PROCESSING FEES

Please remember to give us a phone number in your request letter that we can use if we have questions about your request.

Several characteristics of the FOIA should be kept in mind. As a general rule, agencies are not required to create records in order to respond to FOIA requests. Nor are agencies required to answer questions posed as FOIA requests. Please remember that the FOIA pertains only to existing records and that requests cannot be made for "future" records not yet created.

Expedited Processing

Under certain conditions you may be entitled to have your request processed on an expedited basis if you can show a compelling need. There are two categories of circumstances for the justification for expedited processing. Expedited processing can be requested when the failure to obtain the requested records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual. Expedited processing can be granted if the requester is a person primarily engaged in disseminating information to the public and the information is urgently needed to inform the public concerning some actual or alleged government activity. Please note: Requests are not expedited merely because the requester is a representative of the news media.

Your request for expedited processing must be accompanied by an explanation setting forth the reasons why your request should be expedited. You should certify that the reasons you have given are true and correct.

We will notify you of our decision about whether to grant expedited processing within no more than ten days after receiving your request. If we deny your request for expedited processing, you will be advised of your right to submit an administrative appeal.

How To File A FOIA Appeal

Freedom of Information Act appeals should be sent to the following address.

Please mark your envelope with the notation, "FOIA APPEAL."

You may fax your appeal to the following: (202) 916-4990. You may email your appeal to [email protected].

Appeals delivered by a commercial courier service should be delivered to the address above.