What would happen if the federal government does not get money to function

B

big-bird

Registered Users (C)
In 8 days , if congress does not find a compromise , the Federal government will run out of money .
We have heard before that the reason for increasing fees for USCIS applicant is because the department should finance itself with applicants paying for everything .
I doubt that the entire USCIS can function without some money from the Government and what about background checks from the FBI .
just wondering for those of us going through the naturalization process :confused:
 
The USCIS currently is solely supported by applicant fees, and as such wouldn't necessarily be affected by a looming government budget crisis.
 
Bobsmyth said:
The USCIS currently is solely supported by applicant fees, and as such wouldn't necessarily be affected by a looming government budget crisis.
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What if FBI etc can not functuon due to budget so that applicants will never get their name check and
fingerpriting cleared?
 
WBH said:
What if FBI etc can not functuon due to budget so that applicants will never get their name check and
fingerpriting cleared?
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Biometrics are funded by applicant fee. Anyways, it's unlikely the government would shutdown like in 1995-96.
 
It was just on the news that passport processing, amongst others, will go on hold if the government shuts down just as it did the last time the government shut down.
 
jayoa said:
It was just on the news that passport processing, amongst others, will go on hold if the government shuts down just as it did the last time the government shut down.
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The news outlets report on the possibility just to sensationalize the issue.
 
They also said since Washington DC is just another federal agency in the eyes of the federal government, it too will shut down.
 
Right now the United States federal government is heading to a shutdown, most likely next week on March 4, 2011. It’s likely that passport and visa services will be closed as they are considered non-essential. This affects yachties applying/renewing B1/B2 at a US embassy such as the one in Barbados and US residents renewing passports. It will be a big impact on your employment if you don’t have the proper legal documents for international travel.

What can you do about it? Not much. If your US passport has been sent in for renewal, hopefully you will receive it back. If you haven’t sent it in - don’t until you know for sure that passport services are up and running. If you are planning a B1/B2 trip, you might want to postpone booking your trip until you know that the office is functioning. Depending on the length of the shutdown there could be delays as they deal with the backlog. In the future, remember not to wait until right before the expiration date to renew - you might be stuck due to circumstances beyond your control. Immigration will not let you into the country without the proper documentation - not having it because of a government shutdown is not an acceptable excuse.

The United States federal government shutdown happens because the legislative branch (Congress) can not agreed on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Basically they don’t have a budget so they don’t have any money to keep paying federal employees and contractors for their services. Only essential services that have emergency funds keep running.

What is considered essential varies depending on current world conditions. This is a good article from the Washington Post as to what to expect this time. The last big shutdown was December 16, 1995 to January 6, 1996. This report documents what happened and what services were effected including passport & visa.

Most of the time yachties work in a happy little bubble where events in the bigger world have little impact. You might not have heard to much about this due to lack of access to news and that there are other major things happening like people revolting against dictators. Now is the time to follow this. Best case scenario, they will reach a compromise and none of this will come to pass.

Source: captainconcierge.com/blog/yachties-could-be-affected-by-us-government-shutdown
 
This article is from the time of the 1995/1996 shutdown.

http://www.visalaw.com/96jan/2jan96.html
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN HAMPERS VISA PROCESSING

It is our hope that this story will be out of date by the time you read this newsletter. But as of December 29th, the last working day of 1995, the federal government remains shutdown. This is the longest such closure in United States history. While certain government functions continue, there have been substantial disruptions in overall visa processing. Most INS operations are continuing uninterupted since processing is paid for with user fees and not government appropriations. So there have been no serious delays in applications filed with regional service centers and local INS offices. Some INS offices have cutback on informational services, however, and others are, reportedly not accepting new applications. Your best bet is to not assume the local office is functioning and to check first.

H-1B and labor certification activities have been disrupted since the US Department of Labor is not operating. There are remedies available if you are caught in a situation where you need to file an H-1B application right away due to falling out of status. You should consult with an immigration attorney to learn more about potential solutions.

Persons seeking visas at US Consulates are out of luck until the government reopens. If you had an appointment for a visa interview and the interview has been canceled due to the shutdown, your interview must be rescheduled by the Consulate.

Proceedings in front of Immigration Judges have also come to a halt and will have to be rescheduled. You or your attorney will be notified of rescheduling by the Immigration Judge's clerk after the shutdown ends.
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Effect of Govt Shut down on the N-400 processing

Is Federal Govt shut down going the slow down the N-400 process ?
 
I just spoke with the USCIS media representative (posed as reporter for local paper here in Hawaii since many of us have to fly over). If there is a government shutdown offices will remain open for interviews, biometrics, etc., because it is fee based. However, other services that involve other government agencies such as background checks, e-verify for employers will not be available.

Very happy about the fact that office will be open as Natz interview/test appointment on Thursday, April 14.

Married to US Citizen 12/2006
Conditional GC 4/2008
10 Yr GC 4/2010

01/26/11 N400 Mailed to Phoenix
01/27/11 Rec'd
02/01/11 Check cashed
02/01/11 Notice Date
02/07/11 NOA rec'd (no email rec'd)
Online status indicates FP Appt mailed 2/4/11
02/10/11 Rec'd FP Appt for 02/23/11 booked airline ticket to Honolulu
02/23/11 FP Appt (completed)
03/07/11 got email/text that cases transferred to Local office- Honolulu Field Office
 
Government Shutdown

Does anyone know if our name/background checks will be affected by the government shutdown (if it occurs)?
Or does the fee we pay cover these FBI workers?
 
Yes it will. There will be less employees or even no employees to perform the search. Things are bad for those people whose name show a hit in the name check and their files have to be ordered for further examination. I suppose those that show no hit may be luckier. This is some crazy bs, I tell you.
 
I am quite sure the FBI is one of the "essential" agencies that cannot be allowed to simply not function. However, that does not mean they will perform such things as background checks. This is just my opinion from what I have been hearing about "essential" workers; just as they can't let the police not function and giving way to lawlessness, the same way the FBI, CIA, etc cannot be shut down.
 
I have my oath ceremony on Monday 11th. :confused: . Fingers crossed.

Good thing is, I don't have a name change. So no judge is required. Not sure if this makes any difference.

Hopefully, it will all get worked out over the weekend after all the political posturing comes to an end.
 
Department of Defense said any service that is essential to national security will remain operational. However, this is so broad that no one knows for sure if this also includes FBI name/background checks although this is also essential to national security for any reason at all why a name/background is checked. I personally do not think name/background checks by the FBI will stop simply because outside of N400 process, they have to have this in operation for many many other reasons. Imagine not being able to check a suspect's name/background because of the shutdown; that is essential to national security so is name/background check for the N400 process.
 
jayoa said:
Imagine not being able to check a suspect's name/background because of the shutdown; that is essential to national security so is name/background check for the N400 process.
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I think they will keep skeleton staff on hand just to run urgent checks on actual suspects, while background checks for processes like N-400 will be suspended.
 
Will federal Goverment shutdown affects USCIS ? and Oath ceremony

I have My sons Oath on 15th April , Will federal shutdown affects the ceremoney as well processigna ny applciation for that matter
 
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