How the Government Shutdown Impacts Employment-Based Immigration

Under a federal government shutdown, only essential and fee-based governmental functions will continue to operate. The shutdown impacts immigration compliance and case processing in the following ways:  

• The Department of Labor will remain operational for the purposes of PERM and H-1B cases. During previous shutdowns, the DOL’s Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG) was suspended; however, the DOL has confirmed with the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that FLAG will remain open during this shutdown. 

• USCIS will continue to process and adjudicate almost all cases since it is a fee-based agency and does not rely on congressional funding. However, adjudications under the Conrad 30 program could become suspended.  

• SEVP offices will remain open.  

• American embassies and consulates will initially continue to process visas and passports since they are primarily fee-funded. However, embassy and consulate functions might become limited to diplomatic visas and life-or-death emergencies if the government shutdown becomes prolonged.  

• E-Verify will be unavailable until the government re-opens, and DHS has suspended the three-day rule for entering new hires into E-Verify. However, employers are still required to complete Form I-9 within three business days of a worker’s first day of employment. Employers should track new hires to enter into E-Verify once the government reopens and the system becomes available again.