Late yesterday theSenate and House each passed a budget bill, which was signed by PresidentObama. The bill’s signing ends the twoweek federal government shutdown. The shutdownobstructed many immigration services, notably the Departmentof Labor’s iCert system, which was shuttered. Through the iCert system employers and theirlawyers apply for Labor Condition Applications (LCAs), Prevailing Wage Determination(PWDs) and Permanent Employment Labor certification (PERM). The discontinuation of these programs meantthat H-1Bs and PERM-based green card applications effectively stopped.
As of this writing,the iCert system remains inoperable. Itis expected that the iCert system will commence operating within 24 hours. At that time MU Law immediately will beginfiling LCAs, PWDs, and PERM applications. We are prioritizing those matters with a legal deadline or businessnecessity.
Other immigrationservices were slowed by the shutdown. Itis expected that those services should return to normal processing times in thenear future.