Federal agency FOIA guide · Department of State
Department of State
For diplomatic, foreign-policy, embassy, and many State Department records. Some passport or visa records use specialized procedures.
Common request topics
state departmentdiplomatic cableembassyforeign policypassport
Where to submit
Mail / email details in FOIAFiler
Email: Not listed in FOIAFiler data; use the official FOIA page.
Mail:
Office of Information Programs and Services
A/GIS/IPS/RL, SA-2
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC 20522-8100
Related request recipes
Diplomatic cables / State Department records
State has a large public FOIA search collection. Historical classified material may also involve declassification review.
Agency FOIA logs
FOIA logs are useful for discovering records other people have already requested and for finding repeatable request language.
How to make the request easier to process
- Describe the records, not just the question you want answered.
- Use a specific date range when possible.
- Name the office, event, case number, contract number, facility, or other locator if known.
- List useful record types such as emails, reports, memoranda, photographs, logs, contracts, or policy documents.
- For records about yourself, follow the agency’s identity-verification and Privacy Act instructions.
- Ask for reasonably segregable non-exempt portions if responsive records contain exempt material.
Build it
One agency or several?
If this agency is clearly the custodian, build one request. If the records may be split among several components, Request Bundles can generate a separate letter for each selected agency while keeping the core description consistent.