Immigration – How To Prepare For A Government Shutdown

So far, Congress has not passed any of the spending bills needed to keep the government open beyond September 30, 2023.

Unless these appropriations bills are passed, or Congress agrees on a temporary continuing resolution, funding for agencies will lapse on October 1, 2023, as the result of a government shutdown.

If the government agencies close for budgetary reasons, all but "essential" personnel will be furloughed.

The following is an overview of how immigration-related agencies will operate in the event of a government shutdown.
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USCIS is a fee-funded agency so if the government shuts down, it is generally business as usual. The exceptions to this are the following programs which receive government funds:

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program should not be impacted by a shutdown since it has been authorized through September 30, 2027.

The Special Immigrant Religious Worker Program will sunset on September 30, 2023 unless a continuing resolution or appropriations package is signed into law before that date.

USCIS has confirmed that employers may continue to use the new alternate document review process for remote Form I-9 document verification if E-Verify is temporarily unavailable due to a government shutdown.

In the past, when the government reopened, USCIS accepted late I-129 filings provided the petition was submitted with evidence that the primary reason for failing to timely file an extension of stay or change of status request was the government shutdown.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is not intended to establish an attorney-client relationship. All information contained in this newsletter is generalized. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.