US President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, will plead not guilty to three criminal charges relating to a gun purchase he made in 2018, his lawyer has said.

In a letter to the judge, attorney Abbe Lowell confirmed the intended plea while asking that the initial court appearance be held remotely.

Mr Biden was indicted last week for possessing a gun while he was an illegal drug user and lying to buy it.

If convicted, he could face up to 25 years in prison.

The 53-year-old "will waive reading of the indictment, which is merely a few pages and could easily be read at a video conference", Mr Lowell wrote in the two-page court filing on Tuesday.

The attorney added that seeking a video hearing was not a case of the president's son "seeking any special treatment".

Instead, he said, it would "minimize an unnecessary burden on government resources and the disruption to the courthouse and downtown areas" from the Secret Service detail accompanying Mr Biden.

Mr Biden's legal team had initially made the request for their client to appear remotely last week and prosecutors opposed the request.

But Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke, in a court order late on Monday, asked the request to be made in writing by Tuesday, with a response from prosecutors due by Wednesday.

The charges against Mr Biden stem from October 2018, when he was struggling with a crack cocaine addiction after the loss of his brother Beau to brain cancer.

He is said to have bought a Colt Cobra revolver on a whim in October 2018, roughly two months after completing another stint in rehab.

But Mr Biden allegedly lied on the federal firearm application form that he was not using illegal drugs at the time.

In June, a plea deal reached between prosecutors and Mr Biden's legal team on gun and tax charges collapsed after another judge raised objections, noting the agreement was "unusual".

Under the terms of that deal, Mr Biden would have been forced to admit to illegal possession of a firearm and agree to drug treatment and monitoring to avoid a felony charge and potential imprisonment.

He would also have pleaded guilty to two misdemeanour counts for failing to pay his taxes on time in 2017 and 2018.

But legal analysts have said the basis of the gun charges against Mr Biden will likely be subject to a constitutional challenge.

Mr Biden is a first-time offender who had the weapon for fewer than two weeks and never used it. Few people matching that profile face such charges, let alone prison time.

But gun advocacy groups like the National Rifle Association have hailed the charges, noting the irony of President Biden opposing the very laws his son is now accused of breaking.