As U.S. Government Shutdown Continues, Many Immigration Applications are Still Being Accepted/Processed

By Elizabeth M. Klarin

December 27, 2018 | Immigration Blog
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As the U.S. government shutdown continues, some news outlets are speculating that there won’t be a quick and easy solution to the stalemate over the federal budget that caused the that current situation. However, while your planned trip to a U.S. national park could be impacted, your immigration application or petition may not be.

The Department of Homeland Security is one of the nine departments of the federal government without current government funding, following the shutdown. However, several functions of and agencies under the Department will largely continue to operate, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), border patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Coast Guard, Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

USCIS continues to accept and process applications and petitions for various immigration and visa benefits, which are largely funded by fees paid by applicants or petitioners. In addition, the U.S. Department of State continues to accept and process visa applications, including applications for E visas.

Please feel free to reach out to a LMWF immigration team member with specific questions or concerns regarding your visa or immigrant application, or to find out how your U.S. immigration options might be impacted by the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.

Disclaimer: The information in this post is provided for general informational purposes only, and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information contained in this post should be construed as legal advice from our firm or the individual author, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.


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