On December 21, the U.S. Congress avoided a government shutdown by passing a bipartisan temporary government funding bill, ensuring federal agencies remain funded at their current levels until March 14, 2025. The bill was subsequently signed into law by President Biden. Adding to an already busy agenda at the start of the 119th Congress, lawmakers will need to revisit budget discussions before the March deadline to determine a longer-term solution for the remainder of fiscal 2025, which runs through September 30.
If the government agencies close for budgetary reasons, all but "essential" personnel are furloughed and are not allowed to work. USCIS, as a fee-funded agency, generally proceeds as usual, with the exception of programs that rely on appropriated funds, such as E-Verify, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program, Conrad 30 J-1 doctors, and non-minister religious workers, which are suspended or otherwise impacted. At the Department of State, visa and passport operations are fee-funded and thus are not normally impacted by a lapse in appropriations. Consular operations can nevertheless be impacted if there are insufficient fees to support operations at a particular post. Inspection and law enforcement personnel are considered "essential." Ports of entry will be open, and processing of passengers will continue; however, processing of applications filed at the border may be impacted. The ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) offices are unaffected since SEVP is funded by fees. At the Department of Labor, the Office of Foreign Labor Certification, which handles PERM labor certification and H-1B labor condition applications, among other submissions, would cease processing all applications in the event of a government shutdown, and personnel would not be available to respond to e-mail or other inquiries. OFLC's web-based FLAG system would be inaccessible, and BALCA dockets would be placed on hold.