Potential Impact on Immigration if Partial Government Shutdown Occurs

U.S. government funding may expire on September 30, 2021, unless an FY 2022 budget is approved. Currently, the latest proposal from the Democrats has been shut down by Republicans, leaving the Biden Administration a mere 2 days to come to an agreement. If no agreement is reached, there will be a partial government shutdown. Some immigration processes may be suspended. Others will not be affected, although further processing delays are likely.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a stopgap spending effort to keep the government at current funding levels through December 3, 2021. Whether or not this will be passed in the Senate is unclear.

If a partial shutdown is not avoided, below are the potential impact on various immigration operations organizations, based on prior shutdowns.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): Since the department is generally funded by fees paid by applicants, USCIS would continue to process applications and petitions. However, further backlog may build for cases that rely on other government agencies that may be suspended. As an example, if a security clearance is needed for a petition or filing and the agency responsible for completing that process is shut down, that petition or filing will be affected. Existing appointments will likely remain in place, with active Covid precautions. We encourage anyone with an appointment to proceed as normal unless notified by USCIS.

Department of Labor (DOL): DOL immigration functions would likely be suspended. These may be considered non-essential functions. As such, a few applications would not be addressed, including PERM applications, labor condition applications (LCAs), prevailing wage determinations (PWDs), or applications for temporary labor certification. The DOL online application systems may not accept PERM applications or audit responses, prevailing wage requests, or LCAs. However, the U.S. mail will continue to function and the DOL would be unable to accept submissions received by mail.

Department of State:  The DOS visa processing and U.S. citizenship document should not be suspended. However, this relies on the DOS having continued access to filing fees to manage consulates. Passports may be affected if the offices are located in federal buildings that may be required to close due to budget issues.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP): U.S. borders and ports of entry should remain in normal operation. Immigration application processing should continue as normal at the borders.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement: Operations for ICE enforcement and Student and Exchange Visitor System (SEVIS) should continue as normal.

E-Verify: Without appropriation legislation and funding, the E-Verify option will terminate. As such, employers may not have the capability to start E-Verify requests or resolve open items. On the plus side, employers may not be expected to meet typical deadlines for E-Verify until the program is back up and running. Adverse actions against an employee cannot be taken if the employee eligibility verification cannot be competed in E-Verify because of the government funding issue. All employers are still required to comply with Form I-9 obligations and deadlines.

Conrad 30 Program: Congressional authorization for the Conrad 30 program will expire unless a funding agreement is reached by September 30.

SAVE System: SAVE is the USCIS database used by government agencies to verify the applicant’s immigration status if they have applied for benefits. SAVE should stay operational as per the norm.

ILBSG continues to monitor the government funding legislation and keeps our clients informed. If you have questions about how a potential government shutdown could affect your immigration issue, contact us at ILBSG. We put our expertise and experience to work for you.