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UNCLASSIFIED
Department of State Information Access Guide/Manual
I.
 
Introduction
2II
Exemptions
3
 
III.
Department of State Records
 41. Records Maintained by the Department of State2. Records Available Without Making a FOIA RequestIV
Requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
51. Where to Make a FOIA Request2. How to Make a FOIA Request3. What to Expect Next4. Expeditious HandlingV
Requesting Personal Records
81. General2. Types of Personal Records Maintained at the Department of State3. Making a Privacy Act Request4. Access to Your Records5. Access to Someone Else’s Records6. U.S. Passport Records7. Visa Records8. Current/Former Department of State Employee Records9. Deceased PersonsVI
Appeals
141. Denial of Access2. Fee Waiver/Expeditious HandlingVII
Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR)
151. General2. Where to File a Request for MDR3. How to Request MDR4. Appealing an MDR decisionVIII
Fees
171.
 
Introduction2.
 
Requester Categories3.
 
Agreement to Pay Applicable Fees4.
 
Fee Limits5.
 
Fee Waivers6.
 
Fees Charged
 
UNCLASSIFIEDPage 2 of 21 06-08-2009 
I. Introduction
The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996 (E-FOIA) was signed into lawon October 2, 1996. The amendments require agencies to prepare a guide for requesting accessto information maintained by the appropriate agency.On December 14, 2005 President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13392, part of whichrequired each agency to provide a plan for improving the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Department of State’s plan, entitled “Review of Department FOIAOperations and Plan for Improvement” lists a number of milestones for improving theDepartment’s FOIA operations. One of these milestones requires the Department to consolidateinformation on requesting access to Department of State records into a single document.Consistent with these requirements, the Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS) hasprepared this guide for requesting Department of State records. These guidelines, along with
Title 22 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 171
, will provide all of the necessaryinformation needed to file a request for access to Department of State records.
 
UNCLASSIFIEDPage 3 of 21 06-08-2009 
II.
 
Exemptions
The text of the Freedom of Information Act (
Title 5 of the United States Code (U.S.C.), section552
), generally provides that any person has a right to request access to federal agency records,except to the extent the records are protected from disclosure by any of nine exemptionscontained in the law or by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions (
5 U.S.C. 552,sections b and c
).The nine exemption categories that authorize government agencies to withhold information are:(1) classified information for national defense or foreign policy;(2) internal personnel rules and practices;(3) information that is exempt under other laws;(4) trade secrets and confidential business information;(5) inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters that are protected by legal privileges;(6) personnel and medical files;(7) law enforcement records or information;(8) information concerning bank supervision; and(9) geological and geophysical information.The three exclusions pertain to particularly sensitive law enforcement and national securitymatters.For a more comprehensive listing and description of these exemptions, refer to the text of theFreedom of Information Act.
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