USCIS Delays Plans to Furlough 73% of Its Entire Workforce Starting Until August 31st – Major Delays and Disruptions Expected

Update August 26, 2020: USCIS has called off the scheduled furlough. See update.

Update July 24, 2020: USCIS has announced that they have agreed to delay the start of the staff furlough until August 31st (from August 3) due to funding estimates showing surplus for the fiscal year and not the previously-projected $571 million deficit.

Original Article Below:

This week USCIS announced that they have notified approximately 13,400 of its employees (approximately 73% of its total workforce) that they will be furloughed starting August 3 and for at least 30 days if Congress does not allocate emergency funding. This is likely to mean almost no case processing, increase in delays and (another) premium processing service suspension.

Reason: USCIS Funding Shortfall

Unlike many other federal agencies, approximately 97% of USCIS’s budget comes from immigration fees and, as a result of declining filings (due to the economic crisis, COVID-19 and, likely, some of the administration’s policies) the revenue has been much shorter than what is needed for continuing operations.

According to USCIS,

USCIS has seen a 50% drop in receipts and incoming fees starting in March and estimates that application and petition receipts will stay well below plan through the end of Fiscal Year 2020. This dramatic drop in revenue has made it impossible for our agency to operate at full capacity. Without additional funding from Congress before August 3, USCIS has no choice but to administratively furlough a substantial portion of our workforce.

USCIS has requested $1.2 billion emergency congressional funding but so far it has not been granted and if this does not happen by early August then three-quarters of USCIS’s workforce will be furloughed.

Extreme Impact on Immigration Case Processing

If the threatened furloughs actually take place on August 3, the impact on case processing will be dramatic. While case intake may not stop, adjudication is certain to cease almost completely. Biometrics and other in-person services will likely be stopped. At this time it is not clear what level of basic operations USCIS will be able to maintain with such reduced workforce but significantly longer processing times for adjudication and other services are to be expected.

Conclusion

We are hopeful that USCIS and congress will reach a funding agreement and the furlough will not actually happen as it is certain to increase what are already long processing times for many types of cases.

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