The U.S. federal government has shut down as of October 1, 2025, after failing to pass a funding appropriations bill for the 2026 fiscal year. We expect Immigration operations to be impacted as follows:
Department of Homeland Security
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): USCIS will continue to process applications and petitions for immigration benefits, however, employers should expect delays as personnel shift priorities. Appointments at USCIS local offices and Application Support centers should not be affected by a shutdown.
- The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program should not be impacted.
- The USCIS E-Verify system has been suspended. However, employers’ obligations regarding I-9 are unaffected.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): ICE should remain fully operational with a limited number of furloughs.
- Student and Exchange Visitor Information System: SEVIS operations should continue.
- SAVE System: expected to remain in operation.
- EB-4 Non-Minister Religious Worker Program: Now unavailable.
- Conrad 30 Program: Congressional authorization has expired but is partially operational. The expiration will suspend the program with respect to international medical graduates who enter training after July 1, 2026, unless reauthorized by Congress.
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP): CBP should remain fully operational as their work is considered essential to national security. It is expected that TN and L-1 petitions for Canadian nationals will continue to be adjudicated at the border.
Department of Labor
The majority of employees will be furloughed during the government shut down.
- Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC): all activities have been suspended. The DOL will not issue any PERM or temporary labor certification applications, labor condition applications (LCAs) or Prevailing Wage Determinations during the shut down and will not accept PERM applications, audit responses, LCAs or prevailing wage requests. OFLC personnel will not respond to emails and the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals dockets will be placed on hold. Please note that PERM applications may be filed by mail. We recommend Employers retain proof of delivery as evidence of having timely filed PERM applications.
- Foreign Labor Application Gateway (FLAG): The website has been taken offline.
Department of State
Since visa and passport operations are fee-funded, all consular operations domestically and abroad will remain operational, including passports and visas. Some domestic passport offices could be affected if they are located in federal buildings that are closed due to the shutdown. If fee funding is depleted, the agency could suspend visa processing or limit work to emergency cases only.
Department of Justice
- Executive office for Immigration Review: The EOIR will continue to operate.
- Immigrant and Employee Rights: The IER staff will be furloughed. In previous years, IER offered limited assistance in prior shutdowns with a skeleton staff answering urgent emails for one hour daily.