Government Shutdown Ends: What Immigration Agencies are Reopening?
The federal government shutdown has officially ended. On November 12, President Trump signed a spending package for FY 2026 that restored funding to most federal agencies through January 30. As a result, critical government functions can now fully resume — including ones important to U.S. immigration services.
USCIS stayed open during the government shutdown because its operational costs are covered by filing fees. But due to the Department of Labor closing on October 1, many sponsors for employment-based visas could not kickstart the application process. As a result, many H-1B, EB-2, and EB-3 cases were delayed or put on pause.
The DOL resumed LCAs and PERM processing earlier on October 31, a few weeks before the government reopened. However, many cases could still be affected due to the backlog caused by the shutdown.
Embassies stayed open during the shutdown because the State Department gets some funds from consular fees. As a result, visa and passport processing at consulates remained largely unaffected.
Congress has until January 30 to enact the remaining FY 2026 appropriations. In the meantime, our team will continue publishing updates as new developments occur.
