The U.S. government is back in business, including
immigration-related services. Immigration Courts are
re-opened and Removal proceedings of non-detained aliens have
resumed. The Department of Labor (DOL) will be accepting
Labor Condition Applications (LCA) so employers of temporary
workers in H-1B status may file to extend their employment
authorization and status. The U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Service (USCIS) hasn't said whether or not it will
be forgiving of applications that are filed beyond the status
expiration because of lack of a certified LCA.
DOL will again be accepting and processing PERM labor
certification applications ... and E-Verify is back.
For affected matters, there has been a 17 -day immigration
hiatus. The restart may not be seamless, but processing
delayed by the shut down and cases postponed will proceed, status
quo ante. Employers will need to look ahead to securing H-1B
status as needed and filing labor certification