DHS trades paper FOIA requests for digital filings
Effective next month, the department said the change will increase its workers’ efficiency by speeding up initial data entry and related administrative tasks.
By Lindsey Wilkinson, FEDSCOOP, Dec. 29, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security will require people submitting Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests to do so electronically, rather than mailing them in, as directed by a new rule going into effect Jan. 22.
Paper requests can be tedious and time-consuming. The updated procedures are aimed at increasing workers’ efficiency by speeding up the initial data-entry processes and directing more time to searching and reviewing records corresponding to related requests, according to DHS.
“This rule will not impose any new costs on the government or the public,” the department said in the final rule published last week. “Electronic submission via web portal is also more efficient than using the U.S. Postal Service and allows for better tracking of the submission and quicker response by the Government.”
The agency will consider exceptions in “limited circumstance,” such as for requesters without internet access.
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