The federal government of the US shut down at midnight on Friday, with six government agencies that deal with immigration among the many affected. With Congress in a stalemate, the shutdown means that all but the most essential of government personnel will be unable to work until there is a resolution to the situation.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services will not be too affected by the shutdown, although E-Verify services will be suspended. The Office of Foreign Labor Certification in the Department of Labor, which is responsible for the processing of PERMs and Labor Condition Applications, will shutter operations completely until the shutdown comes ends. The EB-5 Regional Center Program is in suspension for the duration of the shutdown, with any petitions unable to be processed by DOS and USCIS until the extension and reauthorization of the Program.
Passport and US visa operations at the Department of State will not be affected, and neither will any operations at Customs and Border Protection, considered to be an essential government function, though the processing of US visa applications filed at the US border could be impacted. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue its enforcement and removal operations, as well as the Student and Exchange Visitor Program.
Perhaps the most important of the programs affected by the shutdown is the EB-5 US visa program. It gives green cards to overseas investors who invest $500,000 in a US project and create ten new jobs in the US.