How to get your records from when you came as an unaccompanied child

This page covers records from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for people who came as children. It is general information, not legal advice. For your adult immigration file (the A file) and border records, see How to get a copy of your immigration file.

What is my ORR file, and do I have one?

When the government picks up a child who came without a parent or legal guardian, it usually sends the child to the care of ORR. ORR places the child in a shelter, foster home or other program, and later releases most children to a sponsor, often a parent or relative. The care provider keeps a case file the whole time.

If you stayed in an ORR shelter or foster home, even for a few days, you likely have a file. If you came with a parent and stayed with them, you probably do not have an ORR file.

ORR's own policy says these records belong to ORR and may not be released without ORR's approval (ORR Policy Guide, Section 5.6.2 and 5.10.1, checked October 21, 2026). That is why you ask ORR directly, not the shelter.

What is in the file?

ORR requires each child's file to include, at minimum, records like these (ORR Policy Guide, Section 5.6.2, revised August 26, 2026):

• Your name, A number, birth certificate and photo
• Placement papers and intake checklists
• Medical records: exams, vaccines, TB screening, prescriptions, dental, hospital visits
• Mental health and counseling notes and assessments
• School records from your time in care, including any education plan
• Case manager notes and your service plan
• Discharge papers, including your Verification of Release
• Legal papers, like a removal order, and any trafficking eligibility letter

Some of these can be key evidence later. Your intake and release papers show when you arrived and that you came alone. Medical and counseling notes may show harm you went through.

What will ORR not give me?

ORR does not release some information through a records request. It says it will not release, without a court order, subpoena or federal investigation (ORR Policy Guide, Section 5.10.1.3, revised August 8, 2025):

• Internal emails and memos
• Internal incident reports from the care provider
• Sponsor assessments and sponsor application packets
• Background check results
• Foster parent information
• Information about other children, unless they are your siblings

ORR also does not release information about your sponsor or the sponsor's household without their written consent. Home study and post release services records need the sponsor's signature. Expect some pages to be blacked out.

How do I ask for my file?

1. Get the ARR form. It is linked from ORR's Policy Guide, Section 5.10.1.1. Don't pay anyone for it.
2. Fill it out. Use the name you used in ORR care, your date of birth, your country and your A number if you know it. Say what records you want. Asking for "my complete case file" is fine.
3. Sign in front of a witness. ORR requires your signature and a witness's signature. The witness writes their name and relationship to you.
4. Add proof of who you are. A former child in care sends the ORR Verification of Release form or a government issued photo ID (ORR Policy Guide, Figure 5.10.1). Section 2.2.4 of the same guide lists the IDs ORR accepts.
5. Email everything to UCRecords@acf.hhs.gov. ORR's policy names this address for all requesters.
6. Write a clear subject line. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a national nonprofit, advises a subject line like "ORR Records Request for UC [your initials], XXX-XXX-[last three digits of your A number]," and adding "URGENT" if you ask for fast processing.
7. Save a copy of the email and attachments, and mark your calendar 40 days out.

If a lawyer or DOJ accredited representative asks for you, they add ORR's Notice of Attorney Representation form.

Who has to sign the form?

ORR's signature rules depend on your age and whether you are still in care (ORR Policy Guide, Figure 5.10.2):

For medical and mental health records, ORR accepts the signature of the child, the caregiver or the parent or legal guardian. A sponsor or parent asking for a child's file must also send their own government issued photo ID.

Can I get my file faster?

Yes, for certain reasons. ORR may handle an expedited request within 7 calendar days when, for example (ORR Policy Guide, Section 5.10.1.5):

• You have a court hearing within 30 days
• You turn 18 within 30 days
• The records are needed for medical care
• The records are needed for school enrollment
• A missing child report, or a non immigration investigation, is involved

ORR must give attorneys of record and DOJ accredited representatives key documents within 7 days on a proper expedited request. That is one more reason to work with a lawyer if your court date is close.

Normal requests usually take up to 40 calendar days. ORR says it may take longer if it gets more than 150 requests in two weeks, or if your records are from before January 2014. In those cases ORR tells you and works as fast as it can.

What if ORR says no or the file never comes?

• Check that your request was complete. ORR can reject a request that is missing a signature, witness or ID.
• Send it again, fixed, and keep proof of each email.
• Ask for help. A clinic or lawyer can follow up and knows ORR's contacts.
• Try FOIA as a backup. ORR's policy says its case file process is separate from FOIA. ILRC's advisory says there is no appeal from an ORR refusal and suggests a FOIA request to HHS's Administration for Children and Families if records are refused or missing.
• Questions after release? The ORR National Call Center is 1-800-203-7001.

What other records should I ask for?

Your ORR file usually does not include the records made by the border or immigration officers who first stopped you. Ask for those separately (ICE, Request Immigration Records, updated July 6, 2026):

• USCIS: your A file, any applications you filed. Request online through USCIS's FIRST system.
• CBP: your arrest and border record, often called an I-213. Request online.
• ICE: detention and transfer records. Request online.
• Immigration court (EOIR): your court record, with Form EOIR-59 if you are the person in the case.

Since January 22, 2026, most DHS records requests must be made online. Full steps are in How to get a copy of your immigration file.

Why do these records matter?

Lawyers use them to:

• Prove you came alone. That can matter for asylum, because the one year asylum deadline does not apply to unaccompanied children (8 U.S.C. 1158(a)(2)(E)).
• Build a Special Immigrant Juvenile Status case, if you are under 21. See What is SIJS and can my child qualify?
• Check what you said years ago, so your new application matches.
• Find evidence of harm or trafficking for a U or T visa. See What is a T visa?
• Fix your court case, if you missed a hearing or never got notice.

Is there a checklist I can print?

Questions people ask

I'm an adult now. Can I still ask? Yes. ORR's rules cover released children of any age now, as long as you were in ORR care.

Do I need a lawyer? No. A former child in care can request their own file. A lawyer helps if you need it fast or if the file shows something hard.

Will asking for my file put me at risk? The request goes to ORR, a child welfare office, and it is about records ORR already has. If you have worries about your case, talk to a lawyer before you file anything else with the government.

My sponsor won't sign. Can I still get my file? If you are 14 or older, you sign for yourself. Sponsor information and home study records may be held back without the sponsor's consent.

Who can help?

Contact them to confirm hours, languages and openings. Being listed here is not a referral or a promise of service.

• CLSEPA, East Palo Alto (low income residents of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties). SIJS, asylum and deportation defense. 650-326-6440. Walk in Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1861 Bay Road. clsepa.org
• Bay Area Legal Aid. Advice line 1-800-551-5554, all languages. SIJS and survivor cases. baylegal.org
• Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, LIBRE. Limited help with SIJS for teen parents and other vulnerable immigrants. Attorney appointments (650) 517-8936; main line (650) 558-0915. legalaidsmc.org
• Catholic Charities San Francisco (serves San Mateo County). Lists FOIA help among its services. (650) 285-6451. catholiccharitiessf.org
• Anywhere in California: CDSS legal services list. Anywhere in the U.S.: immigration court pro bono list.