Due to House Republicans’ insistence that any new spending bill must include provisions to defund Obamacare, Congress has failed to pass a spending plan for this fiscal year and the government has been shut down. Many government agencies, especially those which are not operated on a fee basis, will either close or significantly limit their services. Many government agencies involved with immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing will be affected by this shutdown.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will remain open and will function as usual, with the exception of the E-Verify system which will be unavailable during the shutdown. In addition, the CIS Ombudsman’s Office will be closed for the duration of the shutdown and will not be returning phone calls or emails and will not accept any new inquiries through its online case intake system. Consular offices will remain open as long as there are sufficient fees to continue consular operations. If and when such fee support runs out, consulates will remain open only for diplomatic and emergency services for American citizens and visa processing will slow or come to a halt.

The Department of Labor’s Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) has closed and its employees have been placed in furlough status. Thus, OFLC is neither accepting nor processing Labor Condition Applications, Applications for Prevailing Wage Determinations, Applications for Temporary Employment Certification, Applications for Permanent Employment Certification, or any other applications at this time. The OFLC’s website, the iCERT Visa Portal System, will also be inoperative.

Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) inspectors and law enforcement personnel are considered “essential” and therefore will not be furloughed, although reduced staffing and delays should be expected. CBP has given no guidance as to how the shutdown will affect applications filed at the border. The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) will maintain the detained docket, but all other operations have been suspended and any personnel not considered “essential” have been furloughed. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) will continue to process emergency stay requests and cases where an alien has been detained, including case appeals, motions, federal court remands, and bonds. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and enforcement operations will continue and ICE chief counsel trail attorneys will continue to work on the detained docket, but all other operations have been suspended.

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Founded in 1996, Zhang & Associates, P.C. offers legal services to clients nationwide in all aspects of U.S immigration law. We have successfully handled thousands of immigration cases.

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., our attorneys and supporting professionals are committed to providing high-quality immigration and non-immigration visa services. We specialize in NIW, EB-1, PERM, and I-485 cases. In the past seventeen years, we have successfully helped thousands of clients get green cards. If you plan to apply for a green card, please send your CV to Attorney Jerry Zhang (info@hooyou.com) for a free evaluation.

Zhang & Associates, P.C.

Silicon Valley • New York • Los Angeles • Chicago • Houston • Austin • Seattle

Tel:	1-800-230-7040, 713-771-8433
Email:	info@hooyou.com
website:	http://www.hooyou.com

 

(10/03/2013)