for an appointment. The best things in life are free. The best things in law are expensive, with one exception: Freedom of Information Act requests, which are free, free, free. The Freedom of Information Act is, as readers surely know, a useful tool for journalists and ordinary citizens to obtain information about what our government does. But it is extremely useful and vastly underused in the immigration context. Submitting FOIA requests for immigration records is a simple process that helps immigrants and practitioners alike by giving us a look at someone’s entire immigration history. FOIA requests are filed with USCIS’s National Records Center online or by mail on a simple form called the G-639. The form can be used to request specific documents, such as an old application or certificate of naturalization, or an individual’s entire immigration file. There is no charge unless the government sends a bill; in our experience, the government never, ever does.