Under FOIA, agencies generally may not require advance payment of fees unless the requester previously failed to pay fees on time or the agency determines the fee will exceed $250.
Notes on verification
Directly matches statutory text of 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(v), confirmed by multiple authoritative legal sources including Cornell LII, DOJ, and official U.S. Code text. [tier=gold indep_score=0.988 clusters=4 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - National Archives (seed:conspiracy_and_investigation)
- https://www.justice.gov/oip/freedom-information-act-5-usc-552 (corroboration)
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/552 (corroboration)
- https://uscode.ecfr.io/title/5/section/552 (corroboration)
- https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/5/552 (corroboration)