Immigration offices remain open during federal government shutdown. Expect delays
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- USCIS offices remain open during 2025 federal shutdown but processing delays expected.
- USCIS reprioritizes cases for national security and vetting; interviews delayed.
- Applicants must attend scheduled appointments and check MyAppointment for updates.
All U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices, including the Fresno Field Office on P Street in downtown and the application support center, remain open, but expect delays during the federal government shutdown.
The government shutdown began Wednesday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill ahead of its deadline. Thousands of federal employees could be at risk of layoffs.
“For the duration of this shutdown USCIS will ensure available resources focus on reviewing cases with national security concerns, vetting immigration backlogs to ID threats, & referring all threats to @ICEgov,” said USCIS Director Josepth B. Edlow said on X.
According to Edlow, the USCIS office reprioritization may impact processing times.
“Public facing interactions such as interviews, naturalization ceremonies, and contact center responses may also be delayed,” he said.
USCIS primarily gets its funding from fees paid by applicants and petitioners for immigration and naturalization benefits to cover most of its operations. It also receives federal appropriations to cover budget shortfalls, such as when dealing with fluctuations in application numbers.
Spokesman Matthew J. Tragesser said USCIS will continue with its functions, including screenings and vetting process of applicants during government shutdown.
According to the USCIS, all applicants should attend their interviews and appointments as scheduled. Applicants can also view the status of their appointment on the USCIS My Appointment page.
The field office, located at 744 P St., Suite 120 in downtown, serves Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Stanislaus and Tulare counties.
Local USCIS field offices handle a variety of immigration-related services such as scheduled interviews for non-asylum cases like green cards, naturalizations and other applications and naturalization ceremonies. USCIS field offices do not allow walk-ins.
USCIS also assists with biometrics appointments, provides updates on case statuses, and offers support for applicants navigating the immigration process.
Current office status can be found here: https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Immigration offices remain open during federal government shutdown. Expect delays."
