What is Form G-639?

Form G-639 is the USCIS form for requesting a copy of your own immigration file, under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. It lets you see what USCIS has on you: old applications, decisions, notes.

It is a records request, not an immigration filing. It does not change your status, it does not open a case, and it tells USCIS nothing new about you.

The official records page says that, since January 22, 2026, all FOIA requests to USCIS should be submitted online, through its records portal, with an account. That page is linked below.

The same page says that submitting online is generally the only acceptable method of filing it. The portal is called FIRST, and its link is further down, with the other official sources.

We used to sell the preparation of this form on paper. We no longer do. Charging you for a paper the agency says it generally does not accept would be charging you for something that does not work for you.

Requesting your records through the USCIS portal costs nothing and does not go through us. The official portal is https://first.uscis.gov/. This guide stays here because the question is still the same one: how to see your file.

According to the instructions, the owner of the file requests it, or someone with their signed permission. Relatives of a deceased person also use it, with proof of the death and of the relationship.

Requesting your file is not a legal question. What to do with what you find inside may well be one, and there a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice accredited representative is the one who can guide you.

Your full name and any other names you have used, your date and place of birth, your A-Number if you have one, and which records you are requesting. The more specific you are, the easier they are to find.

It needs no supporting documents, except proof of identity and, if you are requesting for someone else, their authorisation. The general list and the official sources live on the form's page.

You go to the USCIS records portal, create an account with your email, and start a new request. The portal asks you for the same things the form does: your names, your date of birth, and which records you are looking for.

You attach proof of identity and, if you are requesting another person's records, their signed authorisation. On submitting, the portal gives you a control number. All of this happens between you and USCIS, at no cost.

If something in the portal is unclear, the official records page explains each step and is linked below. We do not submit the request for you, and we no longer prepare this form.

Asking for “everything” without saying what. Forgetting previous names, especially a maiden name. Signing for another person without their written authorisation.

And sending the paper to an address when the official page says the route is the portal. A request that arrives through the wrong route is delayed or lost.

USCIS confirms the request with a control number, different from the receipt number of an immigration filing, and places it in a queue. The records arrive in digital form. How long it takes depends on the queue; USCIS publishes its times.

The guide on what happens after you mail a form explains USCIS notices in general; a records request does not receive an I-797C.

We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. We no longer prepare or charge for this form: we explain it and leave you the link to the official portal.

Nor do we read your file or decide what its contents mean. For that there is a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice accredited representative.