How to Get Approved to Visit Someone at USP Lewisburg: The Background-Check Process

The approval process doesn't start with you - it starts with the inmate. Your loved one needs to request the Visitor Information form and send it to the people they want on their visiting list. Until they do that, there's nothing for you to submit.

Once the form arrives, fill it out completely and submit it to the Bureau of Prisons. This puts you into the system as a proposed visitor and kicks off the review process.

• ✓ Your information from the Visitor Information form (the details you provide are what staff use to start the review)
• ✓ The submitted information that BOP staff use to initiate background investigations
• ✓ The submitted information that BOP staff use to determine whether you’re suitable to visit

After you submit, BOP staff use your information to run a background investigation and make a suitability determination. In plain terms: they check your answers, verify your background, and decide whether you can enter the facility. The goal is keeping the institution safe and preventing issues like contraband.

A prior criminal conviction won't automatically disqualify you from visiting USP Lewisburg. These cases are reviewed individually. Prospective visitors with convictions may be approved case-by-case with sign-off from the Captain and Associate Warden (Programs). At the Camp/RDAP, the Camp Administrator reviews each case separately.

After submitting your form, you wait. The background investigation and suitability determination take time, and your visiting status depends entirely on that decision. Don't book travel until you've received approval.

1. Confirm the normal visiting window (if you’re approved) - At the Penitentiary, normal visiting hours are 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
2. Call before you leave - The facility recommends confirming the visiting schedule before you depart. The phone number provided for that is 603-342-4000.