U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking approval for a standardized form for people requesting agency records under the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act. The agency estimates half an hour per respondent, covering 58,748 respondents and 29,374 annual burden hours.
Its notice is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on October 26, 2026. It is a 60-day request for comments on a new information collection, rather than a finding that the form has improved response times or guaranteed access to records.
What ICE says the form is for
ICE describes Form I-902 as a way to identify the requester and the subject of the records, locate responsive files, verify identity and document permission to obtain another person's records. Previously, it says, similar information came through freeform written requests sent by mail or electronically.
The notice describes a fillable PDF that requesters could complete electronically, print and submit through permitted channels, including the online portal or mail. The proposed form itself was not reviewed for this report. Nothing in this notice establishes that every requester must use it now.
ICE says standardizing the information would improve completeness, accuracy and processing efficiency. Those are its stated purposes, not measured results supplied by the notice. The agency invites comments on whether the collection is useful and whether its burden estimate is accurate.
What the privacy language says
The notice gives no special or absolute assurance of confidentiality. It says the information is protected and used under FOIA, the Privacy Act, DHS regulations and applicable records notices.
It also says information may be shared consistently with those notices' routine uses or as otherwise authorized or required by law, including for law-enforcement or national-security purposes. Information submitted on the form may itself be requested under FOIA, with applicable privacy protections and other exemptions considered.
Commenting is a separate public process
The inspection copy leaves the deadline as '[INSERT DATE 60 DAYS AFTER DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]'. December 28, 2026 is the deadline assigned in the Register's metadata and this desk's counted date, adjusted to the next Federal business day under the Register's handbook, from the scheduled October 26 publication. It is not a date printed in the inspection copy.
The notice directs comments to Regulations.gov under docket ICEB-2026-0166. It warns that comments will be posted without change, including personal information supplied. That public-comment warning concerns this review process; it should not be confused with the separate protections and limits described for a person's records request.