Federal Government Shutdown: Immigration Impacts

At 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1, federal funding expired when Congress failed to pass a stopgap spending bill, prompting a government shutdown. The length of the shutdown will shape the extent of disruption for federal agencies, employers, and travelers.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”)

• Case adjudications — such as H-1B petitions, I-140 petitions, and I-485 applications — continue because USCIS is primarily fee-funded and not fully dependent on federal appropriations. Processing delays are nonetheless expected given reduced staffing levels and the suspension of ancillary programs such as FLAG.

Department of Labor (“DOL”)

• The FLAG system is offline, halting new LCA, PERM, and prevailing wage requests until funding is restored.

State Department/Consular Services

• Visa and passport services remain open for now but could slow if the shutdown continues.
• Extended shutdowns often result in reduced staffing, longer wait times, and increased backlogs.

E-Verify

• E-Verify and related programs are offline. Employers are unable to access their accounts at this time and should track hires and cases that cannot be created during the outage to complete entries once the system resumes.
• Form I-9 completion is still required within normal deadlines.

Travel and Borders

• CBP officers and TSA staff remain on duty but without pay; expect longer lines and slower inspections.

Presidential Proclamation: $100,000 H-1B Filing Fee

While comprehensive guidance pertaining to the new executive orders on immigration has yet to come through, several federal agencies have published their interpretation of the orders with the following summary on the presidential proclamation pertaining to a $100,000 fee imposition on certain H-1B petitions:

• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services confirmed that petitions filed before September 21, 2025, are not subject to the new fee, nor are H-1B petitions for an extension, amendment of stay, or change of employer. 
• Department of Homeland Security plans to reprioritize the H-1B lottery toward higher-paid workers.
• Department of Labor plans to initiate a rule to raise prevailing wage levels in order to “upskill” the program.
• Customs and Border Protection confirmed the new fee applies only to petitions filed on or after September 21, 2025, and cautioned that any claims suggesting it affects earlier filings are incorrect.

Please continue monitoring Immigration Insights for updates regarding the H-1B Presidential Proclamation.