Kirsten Gillibrand United States Senator for New York

Skip to navigation
Skip to content

Home > Case Work

Print | Send to Friend | | Font Size:

Assistance with a Federal Agency

I am honored to serve the people of New York State in the United States Senate.

As one of your federal representatives, I may be able to help you interact with various Federal Agencies. If you have had a problem and have not been successful resolving it on your own through normal channels, my staff and I would be pleased to see if we can be of any assistance. My staff makes every effort to assist New Yorkers with a broad range of issues.

To contact my office for assistance with a federal agency, please fill out my Casework Form.

“In order to assure that we can respond to your request as quickly as possible, if this is a request for assistance with a federal agency or an immigration case, please contact the casework staff in my NYC office directly by phone at 212 688 6262, or by fax at 866 824 6340. Contacting us by phone or by fax rather than via email will ensure that we will be able to respond to your case as quickly as possible.”

By law, however, there are some matters over which my office has no jurisdiction. This section will help you determine if I can be of assistance as your US Senator.

Our office is able to provide assistance to you if:

1. You are a New Yorker, AND
2. Your problem is with a Federal Government agency.

If you are NOT from New York State, please contact one of your U.S. Senators.< Any inquiries you send to my office will automatically be forwarded by my office to one or both of the Senators from your state.

If I am unable to help you, I will try to provide you with an alternate means of assistance. However, it is important for you to understand that:

1. While I can make inquiries on your behalf about the status of any pending cases before any Federal agency, I CANNOT force a Federal government agency to decide an issue in your favor, or to overturn a decision that is final.

2. If you are seeking assistance with a case that involves a STATE or LOCAL government agency – you should send your case to your NY State Senator or NY State Assembly person or your local representative. Any inquiries that you send my office that involves a state or local government agency will be forwarded by my office to your state and/or local representatives.

3. If you are seeking assistance with a case that involves a LAWSUIT or LITIGATION, Senate Rules prohibit me or my staff from giving legal advice or intervening in proceedings. If you need to find a lawyer, you should contact the American Bar Association Correspondence Unit at (312) 988-5522. You may also wish to contact the New York State Bar Association at (800) 342-3661.

What my staff and I need from you:

Once you have determined that your case involves a Federal Government agency, the best way for you to obtain assistance from me is to FAX all the information requested below that will enable my staff to review your case and work on your behalf with the appropriate Federal government agencies.

1. A clear and concise letter describing the situation with which you require help.
2. A Privacy Waiver Authorization Form that gives my staff the authority to handle your request.
3. Please be sure to include any identification numbers such as your social security number and case or file numbers.
4. Please be sure to include a daytime phone number and your address to enable my staff to reach you should more information be needed.

FAX the information requested to my NYC office at 866-824-6340.

If you prefer to mail in your request for assistance, we ask that you mail your request to the following address:

Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
U.S. Senate
780 Third Ave, Suite 2601
New York, NY 10017
Attention: Constituent Services

Useful Links:

While my office welcomes your inquiries, you may also find it helpful to contact some Federal Agencies directly. Therefore, included on this web page are links to various federal government agencies that you may find useful. In some instances, these websites will be able to provide you with the answers to frequently asked questions that may help resolve your case.

If the government agency you are looking for is not listed here, please try USAGov, the first-ever government website to provide the public with easy, one stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources.

Mail Delay

Due to the ongoing mail delays in the U.S. Senate and in our New York State offices, all casework authorization forms and supporting materials should be FAXED to the NYC office at (866) 824-6340.

Note: There is a 4 to 8 weeks processing period from the time a constituent first makes written contact with the office until the case is reviewed. Once the case is reviewed, it may take up to three to six months to investigate a case, and more than two months to one year to resolve, depending on the nature of the issue and the Federal agency involved. Please feel free to contact Senator Gillibrand’s constituent liaison staff at (212) 688-6262 with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we are experiencing these difficult times.