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Effect of Federal Shutdown on ISO Visa Processing

As of October 1st, the U.S. federal government has entered a shutdown pending Congressional approval of a budget for the new federal fiscal year.

ISO and government agency processes that will be affected:

  • U.S. Department of Labor processing
    ISO cannot draft or submit ETA-9035 Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) for H-1B/E-3 sponsorship, or ETA-9141 Prevailing Wage Determinations or ETA-9089 Applications for Permanent Employment Certification for permanent residence sponsorship. DOL will not certify or issue any of these applications that have already been submitted.

Any H-1B visa request that has not had an LCA submitted yet will not be able to move forward until the shutdown is resolved.  See How to Sponsor an H-1B at Steps 8 and 9 for more information.

Most ISO and government agency processes should not be affected:

  • Initial ISO review and processing
    Units can still submit H and J visa requests, and ISO can still review and approve them.
  • Processing in SEVIS
    ISO can still issue DS-2019s for J-1 exchange visitors.
  • U.S. Department of State visa processing
    Scholars can still apply for visa stamps at U.S. consulates.
  • U.S. Customs & Border Protection admissions
    Scholars can still be admitted or readmitted to the U.S., subject to guidance on our scholar travel pages.

ISO will reach out to units with affected, in-flight H visa requests within the next week. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you have.