As many, if not all, of you know, currently our government has no funding after September 30, 2015 as Congress has not passed either a budget or a continuing funding bill as of yet. If the Government were to shut down, consular services for those waiting for visas overseas would be stopped until additional funding was approved, the Department of Labor would no longer be able to adjudicate or review PERM information and there would be nobody to accept any mail that came in response to an audit notification. The only immigration related agency that could continue running is USCIS as they rely solely on user fees as opposed to the general budget. However, there would still be massive delays for USCIS as background checks would not be conducted during this period. What is the likelihood of this scenario at this time?
Well, the Senate, just today, finally passed a continuing resolution funding the government until December 12, 2015. However this still has to pass the House, and it is the House that has been holding things up over funding of Planned Parenthood. While I certainly hope that by tomorrow the continuing resolution is passed and the short term emergency is averted, I am also concerned that there will still be a fight over this, and a shutdown could still loom at the end of this year. We will try to keep you updated as things progress. Also, if you have any questions on how a shutdown will affect you or your case, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Immigration Briefs 