December 21, 2018

Impacts of Government Shutdown on H-2A Program

As you may have seen in recent news reports, Washington took an unexpected turn in the last 24 hours, signaling a potential impasse and partial government shutdown. If the federal government fails to agree to a spending bill, we will be facing a partial government shutdown as soon as tomorrow morning.

This potential shutdown is slightly different from recent shutdowns, as the U.S. Department of Labor has already been funded through fiscal year 2019 appropriations and staff that process H-2A foreign labor certifications will continue to work. This means that H-2A applications should continue to be processed and certified.

However, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security are not yet funded and rely on the currently debated legislation for funding beyond December 21, 2018. With this, there may be some impact to processing times; although minor, because they are largely fee-based process.

We will continue to monitor the situation in Washington and keep you apprised of any important updates.

For questions, contact Jonathan Sarager at (202) 296-0191 x 7302.