Officers decide from the A-file; you've been arguing from memory. A complete FOIA copy — every filing, every note, every prior decision — is routinely the cheapest strategic purchase in an immigration dispute.
The A-file collects decades: applications you forgot, officers' worksheets, prior statements compared against each other, referral memos, RFE drafts. Cases turn on discovering what an old filing said — or that the government's copy of events differs from yours. You cannot brief against a record you have not read.
Requesting your own record is routine and lawful in volume; adjudication standards don't change because you asked to read your file.
Expect some (b)(5) deliberative and (b)(7) law-enforcement redactions. Over-redaction is common and appealable — the exemptions guide translates the codes.
Yes, with your authorization — and the request's phrasing is where experience shows. 'All records' scoped badly returns less, slower.