Free congressional inquiry kit: your letter and privacy release
Last updated 2026-11-06 · General information, not legal advice
Once your case is past the processing time USCIS publishes, the congressional office for your district can ask USCIS about it on your behalf. This tool builds the two English documents that takes — a letter to the office, and a USCIS-style privacy release — and then tells you where to send them.
Three things to check first
- Your case really is past the processing time. Open the USCIS processing times page and look up the months for your form and office. If you are not past it yet, the usual answer is "still within normal processing times". Not sure? Try the 60-second self-check.
- Have your I-797 receipt notice to hand. The receipt number, the Received Date and the processing office are all on it.
- Use the spelling of your name that is on the I-797. These documents take Latin letters only.
Build your documents
Preview
The blanks fill in as you type. Anything marked 🔒 is fixed USCIS wording and cannot be changed.
Once you have the files
The tool also writes a short guide for your situation: where to send the documents, what to enclose, how long a reply takes, and the first thing to do if thirty days pass with nothing. For the background, read how to ask your member of Congress.
A congressional inquiry is not a legal prerequisite to suing — federal courts generally will not refuse a case because you skipped it. It is a free channel that leaves a written record. For when suing becomes worth considering, see how long is too long.