What to Do When Your Byrd Unit Visitor Request Says 'Pending Approval'

When you submit a Relationship Request through the TDCJ Online Visitation Scheduler, it doesn't get approved right away. Your request goes to the inmate's unit of assignment - the Byrd Unit, if that's where they're housed - and stays marked

What’s happening behind the scenes is straightforward: the scheduler routes your request to the unit, and staff at the unit verify the visitor/inmate relationship before it’s approved. Until that verification step is completed at the unit level, your request will continue to sit in a pending status.

Practical Steps

• ✓ Confirm you searched/entered the inmate’s TDCJ or SID number as an 8-digit number (a wrong digit can send you in circles).
• ✓ Make sure you have a current, government-issued photo ID if you’re 18 or older.
• ✓ Check that at least one of your IDs shows your current physical address (unless you have address protection as a certified victim of family violence).

If you’re going to call for an update, have the email address you used for your scheduler account handy so you can match your request to what staff see on their end. It’s also smart to call the unit before you make the drive: TDCJ updates assignment and visitation information regularly, and the unit is the final stop for confirming what’s current before you travel to the Byrd Unit.

“Pending Approval” is different from “Not Approved for Visits.” If your visitor/inmate relationship has already been confirmed but the inmate’s visitation privileges have been removed, the scheduler will show “Not Approved for Visits” where you’d normally expect to see a Schedule Visit button. In other words, you can be recognized as an approved contact and still be blocked from scheduling because privileges aren’t currently available.

If you’re seeing “Not Approved for Visits” (or the option to schedule isn’t there), call the unit and ask directly whether visitation privileges currently exist. While you’re on the phone, ask what kind of visit options are allowed right now, so you don’t waste time trying to schedule something that isn’t available.

1. Ask about your Relationship Request status - confirm whether it’s still pending at the unit or if a decision has been made (requests are reviewed at the inmate’s unit of assignment).
2. Confirm visitation privileges - ask whether the inmate currently has visitation privileges, especially if you’re seeing “Not Approved for Visits” in the scheduler.
3. Ask what visit types are available - if standard scheduling isn’t available, ask what options (if any) you should be using right now.
4. Verify what to bring and what’s changed - confirm any ID expectations for visitors and whether there have been recent updates to the unit’s visitation schedule before you travel.