Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services
[Local Address]      FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUEST

Re: Name and A-number   
Gentlepersons:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, request is hereby made for a copy each and every serial in the above captioned individual's A-file.  A G-28 signed by CLIENT is enclosed.
Thank you for your prompt attention.
Sincerely,
Attorney

Under the regulations, this is sufficient, and once you get your local office used to seeing it, they quit asking for the form.  We had to appeal a request made to Houston once, but they finally caved in.  Both the letter and the envelope must state that it is a FOIA request.  The advantages of doing it this way are self-evident, not the least of which is that it is much easier to keep it as a form letter on the computer, and just fill in the client's name and A-number.  If you do not have an A-number, name, date, and place of birth usually suffices, although it is possible that there may be more than one person who fits the criteria, particularly if it is a common name.  Under those circumstances, I will give additional identifying info, such as the complete names of the parents, but still refuse to use their form.

Thanks to Lisa Brodyaga for this information.