Impact of the October 2025 US government shutdown
October 1, 2025
You may have seen news about the US government shutdown. Depending on your home country, you might be wondering what that means and whether it affects immigration processes.
A government shutdown in the US occurs when Congress does not pass a budget or temporary funding bill by a set deadline. This can result in partial closures of federal agencies and temporary pauses in certain government services.
Below is the agency-specific information:
- Department of State – Embassies and Consulates
- Visa operations are funded by application fees (which are different from SEVIS fees) and should not be impacted by the government shutdown. Nevertheless, since the situation is fluid, we recommend that people refrain from international travel if their visa stamp has expired, as visa application processing times may be delayed. If the shutdown continues for an extended period, some consular services could be temporarily suspended.
- Visa operations are funded by application fees (which are different from SEVIS fees) and should not be impacted by the government shutdown. Nevertheless, since the situation is fluid, we recommend that people refrain from international travel if their visa stamp has expired, as visa application processing times may be delayed. If the shutdown continues for an extended period, some consular services could be temporarily suspended.
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- CBP officers will continue to carry out inspections at US borders and ports of entry during the government shutdown.
- CBP should also continue to process TN applications at the border.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
- ICE oversees the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) program, which is funded by SEVIS fees and is not affected by the government shutdown.
- Emory University can continue to issue F-1 I-20s and J-1 DS-2019s.
- US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- USCIS is a fee-based government agency, and therefore, the government shutdown should not impact their normal operations. Applications (such as F-1 OPT applications) should continue to be adjudicated.
- The notable impact may be for USCIS petitions that require pre-filing actions by the Department of Labor (DOL), such as H-1B Labor Condition Applications (LCAs). DOL is not a fee-funded government agency, so their immigration-related functions will be suspended during the shutdown. When the last government shutdown happened in 2018, USCIS allowed temporary exceptions and/or extensions for affected petitions, but it has not been announced whether it will do so for this current shutdown since it just began.
ISSS is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates on this page as they become available.
As always, please do not hesitate to contact your ISSS advisor if you have any questions.