Trying to understand FOIA and Privacy Act when requesting C-File

[shaneinthefalls]

Hi all,

On July 2, I formally submitted a FOIA request for my C-File. I waited 20 business days, then submitted a FOIA appeal. Still nothing. Today I emailed to find out what is taking so long and I received the below message. What in the world is this abou

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Shane

 

Your request is not under the 20 business day timeframe because it is a Privacy request.  For information concerning the status of your request please contact:

Department of Veterans Affairs

Centralized Support Division

Attn: Marvis Harvey

9700 Page Avenue

St. Louis, MO  63132

Email:  CSD.VBARMC@va.gov

Customer Service No.:  1-888-533-4558

National Call Center:  1-800-827-1000

Fax:  314-253-4193

 

v/r,

 

Jacqueline (Jackie) Short

VACO FOIA Service       

Quality, Performance, and Risk (QPR)

Office of Information and Technology (OI&T)

Office: (202) 680-2004 / Fax: (202) 632-7581

vacofoiaservice@va.gov

FOIA Service Hotline: 1-877-750-3642

[Foxhound6]

On 10/16/2020 at 1:08 PM, blahsaysme2u said:

just called the WH hotline. gave them all the information. said they will look into this. someone will contact me to resolve this. 

WE WILL SEE WONT WE. ill update if i get a response

I requested mine January of this year, still waiting. Contacted my Congresswoman here and they sent a request also. Have feeling it wont do much good either

[scienter]

When making your request do it in both the FOIA and the Privacy Act. The VA must do both, and for the FOIA request, if after 20 days of no request, you have exhausted your FOIA and can file in Federal Court. You can also file an application for Extraordinary Relief in the form of a Writ of Mandamus. The VA has been ignoring FOIA requests, and only responding as Privacy Act requests because it has no time limits. It's important to obtain your complete C-file prior to agreeing to the Record Before the Agancy (RBA). The GC only puts documents in the RBA that they think pertains to the BVA's decision, but you need to make sure that all relevant documents are includedd such at the relevant V9, NOD's ect. 

[Berta]

I disagree- and have made this point here Many times-same point as this lawyer makes:

"Veterans can obtain their C-Files by requesting a copy from their local VA Regional Office. Usually, veterans must submit VA Form 3288, Request for and Consent to Release of Information from Individual Records. It can take many months to receive theC-File back from VA after the request is submitted."Sep 11, 2019

 

VA C-File: What is it, and How Do I Obtain a Copy? | CCK Law

cck-law.com › blog › va-c-file-claims-file

 

Using FOIA or Privacy Act request will only add lots more time to the request.

Your C file is yours no need for FOIA.

If you have a lawyer, however  they will need t get it via FOIA.

 

The 21-3288 form should be at hadit under search or found at the main VA web site.

 

[Miken2c74]

Well the closed my Privacy Act/FOIA, sent me the disk and it was blank

[Berta]

That is absurd.. you obviously have a C file with your current rating and the VA obviously got your request

In this thread shaneinthe falls  posted this info:

Department of Veterans Affairs

Centralized Support Division

Attn: Marvis Harvey

9700 Page Avenue

St. Louis, MO  63132

Email:  CSD.VBARMC@va.gov

and:

 

Jacqueline (Jackie) Short

VACO FOIA Service       

Quality, Performance, and Risk (QPR)

Office of Information and Technology (OI&T)

Office: (202) 680-2004 / Fax: (202) 632-7581

vacofoiaservice@va.gov

FOIA Service Hotline: 1-877-750-3642

If those entities cannot help you, I suggest you call the White House Hot Line:

855-948-2311

 

 

[GBArmy]

Miken2c74 Not good news. Berta's advise is a good chance. You probably will just end up doing a do-over. But I would also send in an IRIS request right away and tell them what happened. Maybe, just maybe, they will just do the right thing and push it thru for you. So what if you try 3 or 4 things at the same time; YOU weren't the one that screwed up.