How to Schedule a Visit at FDC Philadelphia

Step 1. Email to Schedule Your Visit

Nearly all visits at FDC Philadelphia must be scheduled in advance. Send an email to [email protected] with the inmate’s name, register number, and assigned housing unit, along with your name, address, phone number, and date of birth.

Step 2. Confirm the Assigned Day for Their Unit

Each housing unit is assigned a specific day on a rotating monthly schedule that changes throughout the year. Tuesdays are reserved exclusively for attorney visits, never social visits. Confirm your inmate’s current unit and their assigned visiting day when you schedule, since the rotation shifts from month to month.

Weekday Visiting Hours (Male Housing Units)

Male housing units on weekdays are split into 4 time blocks: 6:30-8:00 AM, 8:30-10:00 AM, 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, and 12:30-2:00 PM. Some units split a single visiting day between 2 of these blocks.

Weekend and Holiday Visiting Hours (Male Housing Units)

On weekends and federal holidays, male housing units use 4 later time blocks: 7:15-8:45 AM, 9:15-10:45 AM, 11:15 AM-12:45 PM, and 1:15-2:45 PM.

Visiting Hours for Female Housing Units

Female housing units use a single, longer visiting block instead of the 4 shorter slots: 6:30 AM to 1:00 PM on weekdays, and 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM on weekends and federal holidays.

Visitor Limits and Conduct

Each inmate is allowed up to 3 visitors during their scheduled time. Visitors cannot be swapped partway through a visit. Embraces are only permitted at the beginning and end of a visit, including with children and infants, constant physical contact throughout the visit isn’t allowed and can result in the visit being terminated.

Why FDC Philadelphia Works Differently

FDC Philadelphia primarily holds pretrial detainees and people awaiting sentencing instead of long-term sentenced inmates, which is why its visiting system is scheduled and unit-based instead of open weekend visiting like most other federal facilities.

If You Have Other Questions

Email [email protected] or call FDC Philadelphia directly at (215) 521-4000 for questions about scheduling or the current unit rotation.

Parking and Arriving On Site

Use the facility’s designated visitor parking area, not the general staff or Bureau Road parking. Large vehicles like campers, RVs, tractors, or trailers aren’t allowed in the visitor lot at any time. Arrive with enough time to clear the entry process before your scheduled window starts, since federal facilities generally don’t build in a grace period for late arrivals.

Visitor Conduct and Early Termination

Visits are expected to stay quiet, orderly, and dignified since many families share the visiting room at once. A brief hug, kiss, and handshake are generally allowed at the start and end of a visit, but staff can limit contact for security reasons, most often to prevent contraband from changing hands, and the visiting room officer can end a visit on the spot if either the visitor or the inmate isn’t behaving appropriately. The BOP doesn’t permit conjugal visits.

Medical Needs and Accessibility

Most BOP facilities provide a private area in the visiting room for nursing mothers. If you need a specific accommodation for a disability or medical condition, such as a wheelchair-accessible entry or help with a hearing impairment, contact FDC Philadelphia directly at (215) 521-4000 before your visit so staff can plan for it in advance rather than sorting it out at the door.

Holiday Visiting

Visiting is often available on federal holidays in addition to the regular weekend schedule, and time visited on a holiday typically doesn’t count against an inmate’s usual visiting allowance. Confirm with FDC Philadelphia at (215) 521-4000 how holiday visiting works under its specific system before planning a trip, since the exact rules can vary by facility and by the inmate’s custody level.

Dress Code

The BOP prohibits revealing or inmate-like clothing for visitors: no shorts, halter or crop tops, see-through garments, low-cut or backless blouses, sleeveless tops, or miniskirts. Clothing that resembles the inmate uniform, typically khaki tones, is also not allowed. Dress conservatively to avoid being turned away.

Legal and Attorney Visits

Attorney visits follow a separate process from general visiting and aren’t limited by the same monthly allowance. If you’re an attorney or working with one, contact FDC Philadelphia directly at (215) 521-4000 to arrange it rather than using the standard visitor approval process.

If Your Scheduling Email Goes Unanswered

Give [email protected] a few business days to respond before assuming something went wrong, given the volume of scheduling requests a facility this size processes. If you haven’t heard back within about a week of your visiting date, follow up with a call to (215) 521-4000 rather than emailing again and risking a duplicate request.

Bringing a Minor

Children are allowed as part of your 3-visitor limit, and embraces at the start and end of the visit apply to them too, but constant physical contact throughout still isn’t permitted, the same rule that applies to adult visitors. Include the child’s information when you email to schedule, since the scheduler needs a full visitor list ahead of time, not just the adult’s.

A Scheduled Visit Doesn’t Survive a Transfer or Court Date

Because FDC Philadelphia’s population moves through court appearances and transfers so frequently, a visit scheduled days in advance can fall through if he’s moved to a different housing unit, a different facility, or is at the courthouse for a hearing that day. Confirm his status through the BOP’s Inmate Locator close to your scheduled date rather than assuming the original email confirmation still holds.

Getting Downtown for Your Visit

FDC Philadelphia sits at 700 Arch Street in Center City, unlike most federal facilities on this list, it’s reachable by SEPTA public transit as well as by car, and there’s no shortage of parking garages and hotels nearby given the downtown location. That’s a meaningfully different logistics picture than a rural federal complex, worth knowing if you’re coordinating a visit from out of town.

Photos During a Visit

Whether photos are available during a scheduled visit at FDC Philadelphia isn’t stated in the published visiting advisory. Ask when you email to schedule, or call (215) 521-4000, rather than assuming either way.