Federal Government Shutdown Ends

On October 16,2013, Senate and House each passed a budget bill, which was signed by President Obama. The bill’s signing ends the two week federal government shutdown. The shutdown obstructed many immigration services, notably the Department of Labor’s iCert system, which was shuttered. The iCert system remains inoperable, but it is expected that the iCert system will commence operating within 24 hours. Other immigration services were slowed by the shutdown. It is expected that those services should return to normal processing times in the near future.