Impact of Looming Federal Government Shutdown on Immigration-Related Agencies

As of Thursday, March 13, 2025, Congress has yet to pass an appropriations bill that will keep the government open after this Friday.  Unless Congress passes and the President signs a funding bill by midnight on March 14, 2025, the government will shut down at 12:01 am EST on Saturday, March 15, 2025, until a funding bill is signed into law. Below is a summary of how a government shutdown will impact immigration-related services:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)’s operations are fee-funded and a government shutdown should not directly impact the agency’s activities. In the event of a government shutdown, the USCIS will continue to accept and process petitions and applications for immigration benefits, such as nonimmigrant petitions (e.g. H-1B, O, L) and I-130/I-140 immigrant petitions, extension and change of status applications, adjustment of status (green card) applications, and citizenship applications. Furthermore, local USCIS field offices should remain open and applicants are advised to attend interviews and appointments as scheduled. 

In February 2025, the USCIS confirmed that the current H-1B cap lottery registration period will not be impacted by a government shutdown and that the USCIS will continue to support the H-1B application process via all collection methods, including pay.gov.

However, certain USCIS programs that are subject to congressional authorization or are government-funded, such as the E-Verify system (see below) can experience interruptions during a government shutdown.

E-Verify 

If there is a lapse in government funding, the E-Verify system, including E-Verify+, will likely not be available for employers during a government shutdown. Employers will not be able to access their E-Verify accounts to enroll or create E-Verify cases during this time. Please note that employer compliance with Form I-9 requirements is still mandated during a government shutdown. In previous government shutdowns, the USCIS has allowed qualifying employers to use the alternate document review process for remote Form I-9 document verification, in the event that E-Verify is temporarily unavailable.

Department of Labor 

The Department of Labor (DOL)‘s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) operations will be suspended if there is a government shutdown. The DOL will stop processing all applications and the OFLC's FLAG system will be inaccessible to file PERM Labor Certification Applications,  Prevailing Wage Determination (PWD) requests, and Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) for H and E-3 nonimmigrant visa petitions. Furthermore, pending applications will be placed in abeyance until DOL resumes operations. 

Department of State

Similar to the USCIS, the Department of State (DOS)’s visa and passport operations are fee-funded, and most immigration-related programs with the DOS should not be directly impacted by a government shutdown. However, processing times at US consular posts and embassies may be delayed.

Customs and Border Protection

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP)’s operations are considered “essential” and will continue during a government shutdown. U.S. ports of entry will remain open to process travelers entering the United States. However, as was the case during previous government shutdowns, it is possible that the processing of applications or petitions filed with the CBP at U.S. ports of entry/border or deferred inspection offices may be delayed, and people seeking to enter the United States may face longer wait times. 

What this Means for Our Clients

Although the USCIS and DOS will continue to accept and process petition and application filings during a government shutdown, employers could experience serious disruptions in onboarding new employees, and filing extensions or amendments for existing employees,  as many employment-based USCIS petitions and some DOS visa applications require LCAs from the DOL as a prerequisite to filing.   

Anticipating the possibility of a government shutdown, our team has been filing all LCA and PERM Labor Certification Applications that are eligible to be filed with the DOL. We will also be reaching out to our clients who will be impacted by the government shutdown for contingency planning. 

Please contact our office should you have any questions regarding the government shutdown. We will provide updates as more information becomes available.