Before Your First Visit to Pekin FCI: A Step-by-Step Guide to Visitor Approval
Visitor approval trips up most first-time visitors to Pekin FCI. Here's how the process works, what you'll need to provide, and what happens once you're approved.
The visitor-approval process at Pekin FCI starts with your loved one. They request a Visitor Information form from the facility, then send it to whoever they want on their approved list. Once you receive the form, fill it out and submit it to the Bureau of Prisons for approval. Don't assume you can visit until that approval comes through - even if you've visited other federal facilities before.
Note: The BOP’s process is built around the Visitor Information form - your loved one requests it, and you fill it out and submit it for approval.
Form Info
- ✓ Your name
- ✓ Your relationship to the inmate
- ✓ Your date of birth
- ✓ Your driver’s license or state ID number
- ✓ Your passport number (if applicable)
- ✓ Your alien registration number (if applicable)
- ✓ Your legal residence/address
- ✓ Your phone number
- ✓ Your date of approval (once approved)
WebV - the BOP's Web Visiting System - links your visitor record to your loved one's information. It displays their name, register number, housing unit, and work detail. Staff use these details to coordinate visits.
After you submit the Visitor Information form, BOP staff run background checks using the information you provided. They use these results to decide whether to approve you as a visitor.
Once the background check clears and you're approved, staff enter your information into WebV. This makes your approval official - not just a verbal "yes," but a record staff can pull up when you arrive for a visit.
WebV is one of the tools staff rely on during visits. Front office staff use it to track who's on-site and to see visitor details alongside inmate information - housing unit, work detail - that helps them manage movement and scheduling.
Reminder: Your entry in WebV is what confirms your approved status. This is the record staff check when you show up.
Practical Tips
- ✓ The same type of ID you listed on your form (driver’s license/state ID, passport, or alien registration card - whichever applies to you)
- ✓ Your current legal residence/address information (in case staff need to match it to what was submitted)
Make sure the relationship you listed on the form is accurate. That field becomes part of your official visitor record, so it needs to match how you'll be listed as an approved visitor.
- Review the visiting regulations - Pekin FCI tells visitors to read the visiting rules carefully before planning a trip.
- Check travel advisories - Look at any applicable state and local travel advisories as you plan.
- Call to confirm the visiting schedule before you leave - Use 603-342-4000 to confirm the schedule close to departure so you’re not surprised when you arrive.
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