US Government is going to shutdown if today Congress fails to pass a budget tonight

Passport applications will probably be delayed, just as they were delayed in the previous shutdown in the 1990s. After the shutdown ends, they'll be playing catch-up for a while to process the backlog of applications that were being ignored during the shutdown, so the passport delays may continue for some time after the shutdown.

Naturalization and most other USCIS processes should continue, as they are almost completely funded from application fees and not taxes.
 
I would be really pissed if they would cancel my oath!

As far as I know visas and gc and naturalization applications are considered not essential and will stop if the government shut downs. I believe the application fees pays for some part of the processing but the salaries of the IO comes from congress as the salary of most federal employees.
 
I would think that USCIS would be impacted because these are federal employees, and even though they get funds from applications, we all know how screwed up our govt is in using this money

As for oaths, aren't those administered by state courts? They shouldn't be impacted by the shut down...
 
As for oaths, aren't those administered by state courts? They shouldn't be impacted by the shut down...

Judicial oaths are administered by Federal courts. The oath ceremony might physically be in a state court or even a non-court venue like a college auditorium, but a Federal judge would be present and the paperwork behind the scenes for the oath would be filed by USCIS with the Federal court.

Administrative oaths are handled by local USCIS staff.
 
Well, i don't know what is going to be, but I got the mail regarding about interview confirmation. I am feeling little bit relief rather than nothing.
 
Neither citizenship applications, nor greencards, visas, passports etc would be affected.

All of these services are supported from fees and not from the government/taxes.
 
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/story/23579407/government-shutdown-whats-open-whats-closed



Government Shutdown: What's open & what's closed

Posted: Oct 01, 2013 11:22 AM CST Updated: Oct 01, 2013 12:39 PM CST



WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government shutdown has far-reaching consequences for some, but minimal impact on others.

Mail will be delivered. Social Security and Medicare benefits will continue to flow.

But vacationers will be turned away from national parks and Smithsonian museums and low-to-moderate income borrowers and first-time home buyers seeking government-backed mortgages will face delays.

Here's a look at how services are affected.


AIR TRAVEL

Federal air traffic controllers will remain on the job and airport screeners will keep funneling passengers through security checkpoints. Federal inspectors will continue enforcing safety rules.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

The State Department will continue processing foreign applications for visas and U.S. applications for passports, since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates overseas will continue to provide services to American citizens.


BENEFIT PAYMENTS

Social Security and Medicare benefits will keep coming, but there will be delays in processing new disability applications. Unemployment benefits will still go out.

FEDERAL COURTS

Federal courts will continue operating normally for about 10 business days after the start of a shutdown, roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary will have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered essential. But cases will continue to be heard.

MAIL

Deliveries will continue as usual because the U.S. Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.

RECREATION

All national parks will be closed, as will the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo in Washington. Visitors using overnight campgrounds or other park facilities will be given 48 hours to make alternate arrangements and leave the park. Among the visitor centers that will be closed: the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York, Independence Hall in Philadelphia and Alcatraz Island near San Francisco.

HEALTH

New patients will not be accepted into clinical research at the National Institutes of Health, but current patients will continue to receive care. Medical research at the NIH will be disrupted and some studies will be delayed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be severely limited in spotting or investigating disease outbreaks such as the flu or that mysterious MERS virus from the Middle East.

FOOD SAFETY

The Food and Drug Administration will handle high-risk recalls, but will suspend most routine safety inspections. Federal meat inspections will be expected to proceed as usual.

HEAD START

A small number of Head Start programs, about 20 out of 1,600 nationally, will feel the impact right away. The federal Administration for Children and Families says grants expiring about Oct. 1 will not be renewed. Over time, more programs will be affected. Several of the Head Start programs that will immediately feel the pinch are in Florida. It's unclear if they will continue serving children.

FOOD ASSISTANCE

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, will shut down. The program provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition education for pregnant women, mothers and their children.

School lunches and breakfasts will continue to be served, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will continue to be distributed. But several smaller feeding programs will not have the money to operate.

TAXES

Americans will still have to pay their taxes and file federal tax returns, but the Internal Revenue Service says it will suspend all audits. Got questions? Sorry, the IRS says taxpayer services, including toll-free help lines, will be shut down as well.

LOANS

Many low-to-moderate incomes borrowers and first-time home buyers seeking government-backed mortgages will face delays during the shutdown. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages, won't underwrite or approve any new loans during the shutdown. Action on government-backed loans to small businesses will be suspended.

SCIENCE

NASA will continue to keep workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere to support the International Space station, where two Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service will keep forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center will continue to track storms. The scientific work of the U.S. Geological Survey will be halted.

HOMELAND SECURITY

The majority of the Department of Homeland Security's employees are expected to stay on the job, including uniformed agents and officers at the country's borders and ports of entry, members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers, Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees will continue to process green card applications.

MILITARY

The military's 1.4 million active duty personnel will stay on duty and President Obama signed a bill late Monday ensuring they will be paid. About half of the Defense Department's civilian employees will be furloughed.

PRISONS

All 116 federal prisons will remain open, and criminal litigation will proceed.

VETERANS SERVICES

Most services offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue because lawmakers approve money one year in advance for the VA's health programs. Veterans will still be able to visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics. Operators will still staff the crisis hotline and claims workers will still process payments to cover disability and pension benefits. But those veterans appealing the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals will have to wait longer for a decision because the board will not issue any decisions during a shutdown.

WORK SAFETY

Federal occupational safety and health inspectors will stop workplace inspections except in cases of imminent danger.

------

Associated Press writers Matthew Daly, Frederic J. Frommer, Kevin Freking, Andrew Miga, Deb Riechmann, Lauran Neergaard, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Mark Sherman, Stephen Ohlemacher, Lolita Baldor, Jesse Holland, Seth Borenstein, Mary Clare Jalonick and Alicia Caldwell contributed to this report.
 
If the federal courts shut down all oath ceremonies requiring name changes will stop as well. For example Chicago only does oath ceremonies with name changes in the federal courthouse.
 
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