USCIS Remains Open During Federal Government Shutdown, Most Immigration Matters Unaffected
The article explains that during a federal government shutdown, USCIS remains open because it is primarily funded by application fees, and most petitions and interviews proceed as scheduled. However, a few programs—including the EB-5 Regional Center Program, E-Verify, the Conrad 30 Waiver for J-1 physicians, and non-minister religious workers—are suspended or affected pending appropriated funds or congressional reauthorization.
Recently, during the federal government shutdown, a reader asked: Is USCIS currently operating? Is this agency among those closed?
Except for the EB-5 Regional Center Program, which is temporarily suspended due to lack of authorization (see this article for an explanation), most functions of USCIS are unaffected. The reason: do you remember the filing fee you paid when submitting your application? The costs of USCIS processing foreign nationals' affairs are not borne by U.S. taxpayers; USCIS's main source of revenue is the processing fees paid by applicants (often hundreds or even thousands of dollars per application), so the lack of federal government budget has little impact on them.
See the USCIS announcement:
The USCIS announcement states that the current lapse in annual appropriated funding for the U.S. government does not affect USCIS's fee-funded activities. Its offices will remain open, and all individuals should attend interviews and appointments as scheduled. Except as noted below, USCIS will continue to accept petitions and applications for benefit requests.
However, some USCIS programs will either expire, suspend operations, or be otherwise affected until they receive appropriated funds or are reauthorized by Congress. These include:
- EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program (not the EB-5 Program itself). Regional centers are public or private economic units in the U.S. that promote economic growth. USCIS designates regional centers for participation in the Immigrant Investor Program. The EB-5 Program will continue to operate.
- E-Verify. This free internet-based system allows businesses to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S.
- Conrad 30 Waiver Program for J-1 medical doctors. This program allows J-1 doctors to apply for a waiver of the two-year residence requirement after completing the J-1 exchange visitor program. The expiration only affects the date by which the J-1 doctor must have entered the U.S.; it is not a shutdown of the Conrad 30 program entirely.
- Non-minister religious workers. This special immigrant category allows non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations to immigrate or adjust to permanent resident status in the U.S. to perform religious work in a full-time, compensated position.
USCIS has just released the February visa bulletin; see here (indeed, it is not closed).
