Legislative

If Congress cannot approve a budget by this Friday at midnight, the federal government will shut down. While it would likely be business as usual for most private employers in the United States, H-2A users could be dramatically impacted.

That is because U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) staff that process H-2A foreign labor certifications are deemed “non-essential” during government shutdowns and are furloughed until the government reopens. H-2A applications that have not been certified by the shutdown will sit in the queue indefinitely.