The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is a bit different than most federal offices. For the most part, the department is run almost entirely on immigrant fees paid.
That’s good news for immigrants who are waiting for their applications to be processed by the USCIS. A federal government shutdown like the one we are experiencing at the moment does not impact the USCIS as much.
In an email sent to FileRight, the USCIS states the shutdown does not impact their fee-funded activities.
In short, USCIS offices will remain open and immigrants are expected to attend their interviews and appointments as scheduled.
There are certain portions of the USCIS that is government funded and some of those services are feeling the effects of the shutdown.
Those services are as follows:
- EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
- E-Verify
- Conrad 30 J-1 Doctors program
- Non-minister Religious Workers program
Most other services such as green card renewal and naturalization services remain active at the USCIS.
It’s always a good idea to get those applications started right away.