Scheduling Visits in Michigan Prisons: Booking Windows and the Oct. 25, 2025 Slot‑Release Change
Trying to lock in a Michigan prison visit? Two rules matter most: you have to schedule through ViaPath after you're approved, and you can only book within a tight time window. Starting Oct. 25, 2025, a new morning slot-release time changes when you should hop online to grab an opening.
All Michigan Department of Corrections in-person and video visits are scheduled through the Michigan DOC Visitation Scheduling website, hosted by ViaPath (formerly GTL). Before you can do anything in the system, your visiting application has to be approved. Still waiting on approval? You won't be able to create or schedule a visit yet.
Quick reminder: You need both a ViaPath registration and an approved visiting application before you can book an in-person or video visit.
Michigan DOC visits have a strict booking window. You must schedule at least 48 hours in advance, and you can't schedule more than 7 days ahead. The same timing applies to video visits: no later than 48 hours before the visit, no earlier than 7 days before it.
In practice, you can't book a "tomorrow" visit, even if a time looks open. You also can't plan weeks out. It helps to pick a few possible dates and be ready to book the moment your preferred day enters the 7-day window. If you're close to the 48-hour cutoff, don't wait and hope it works out. The system requires that full 48-hour buffer.
One scheduling detail is changing statewide. Beginning Oct. 25, 2025, visiting time slots will be released at 8:00 a.m. instead of midnight. If you're used to checking for new openings late at night, shift that routine to the morning.
Plan for 8:00 a.m.: If the time you want tends to fill fast, be ready right when slots are released, since the release time moves to 8:00 a.m. starting Oct. 25, 2025.
Practical Tips and Limits
- ✓ You can schedule up to two separate visits on the same day with the same prisoner.
- ✓ For in-person visits, a maximum of five visitors may visit a prisoner at a time.
- ✓ In-person visiting blocks run 3 hours on weekdays and 2 hours on weekends.
- ✓ Check the facility’s medical quarantine status before you arrive. A facility or unit under medical quarantine may be unable to attend visits.
Having trouble landing a spot? Use the rules to your advantage. You can schedule up to two separate visits in the same day, so grab an earlier opening now and a second time later if that fits your schedule. Also pay attention to block length: weekday blocks run 3 hours while weekend blocks are only 2 hours, so the time choices you see will look different depending on the day. Starting Oct. 25, 2025, time slots release at 8:00 a.m. That's the moment to check for newly released openings within the 7-day window, especially if you're aiming for popular days.
Medical quarantine can cancel a trip: A facility or unit under medical quarantine may not allow visits. Check quarantine status before you travel.
Video visitation has its own limits, capped by custody level. The monthly maximums break down like this: Level I, 5; Level II, 4; Level IV (general population and protection), 3; Level V and STG I, 2; Segregation and STG II, 1. Each video visit runs up to 20 minutes, so plan what you want to cover before the call starts.
Video visits follow the same scheduling window as in-person visits: no later than 48 hours before, no earlier than 7 days before. If you're trying to stack a video visit around travel or work, build that 48-hour requirement into your plan.
Action Checklist Before Booking
- ✓ Confirm your visiting application is approved (you cannot create or schedule a visit until it is).
- ✓ Make sure you are registered on the Michigan DOC Visitation Scheduling website hosted by ViaPath.
- ✓ Starting Oct. 25, 2025, be ready at 8:00 a.m. when time slots are released.
- ✓ Only try to book inside the allowed window: at least 48 hours ahead, and no more than 7 days ahead.
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