
Quoting
budwad
I don't agree with this. Under the FOIA anyone can request anything. If it is subject to the Act it has to be rendered.
Yes, anyone may make a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but that doesn’t mean they’ll get the information they seek. When the request is for personal information of someone else, the agency is generally precluded under FOIA, the Privacy Act (PA), and other federal privacy laws from releasing that information. That is why, for example, I could not use FOIA to get your federal tax return information. FOIA exempts from disclosure information protected under other federal laws, and your tax returns are protected by both the PA and IRC § 6103.
Because federal law generally protects against disclosure of private information about individuals the agencies likely must deny a FOIA or PA request that seeks information about some other person. Thus, if the OP makes the request, the agency ought to deny the request on that basis (except that perhaps if the wife is not a permanent resident there may not be any protection for her records). Thus, the federal government's main FOIA site, FOIA.gov, specifically states:
Are there special requirements for obtaining records on myself?
If you are seeking records on yourself you will be required to provide a certification of your identity. This certification is required in order to protect your privacy and to ensure that private information about you is not disclosed inappropriately to someone else. Whenever you request information about yourself you will be asked to provide either a notarized statement or a statement signed under penalty of perjury stating that you are the person who you say you are.
What about requirements for obtaining records on someone else?
If you request records relating to another person, and disclosure of the records could invade that person's privacy, they ordinarily will not be disclosed to you.
So, I stand by my response: if she wants this information, she likely needs to request it herself, even under FOIA.