A FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request is a written request submitted to a federal agency asking for agency records on any topic. Any person, whether a United States citizen or not, can make a FOIA request to any federal agency. The FOIA provides public access to all federal agency records except for those records (or portions of those records) that are protected from disclosure by any of nine exemptions or three exclusions. The FOIA request must be in writing and reasonably describe the records being sought. There is no specific form that must be used to make a request, and a FOIA request can be made for any agency record. The FOIA does not require agencies to create new records or to conduct research, analyze data, or answer questions when responding to requests. After an agency receives a FOIA request, it will typically search for records in response to the request and then review those records to determine which - and what parts of each - can be released.