What Happens To The Immigration Agencies When The Government Shuts Down?
Congress has until September 30th to fund the government. This means that members in the House need to strike a deal that will not only pass the House but will pass the Senate. Unfortunately, the outlook isn’t great. If Congress can’t come to terms, the US will go into a shutdown. What does that mean, what agencies will be impacted, and how will it affect our business?
The answer is we just don’t know. Each government shutdown is slightly different. Congress and the Administration will make determinations on essential services that must remain funded. For the US State Department, fortunately, visa services are fee-funded, and visa services will remain operational. However, if we do go into a shutdown and it ends up being a prolonged shutdown, there will cascading factors that will slow visa processing. Our team is focused on the issue and will continue to make updates.
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Government Shutdowns Q&A: Everything You Should Know
“The new fiscal year (FY) begins on October 1, 2023, and Congress has so far enacted none of the 12 appropriations bills setting discretionary spending levels. Lawmakers have until midnight on the final day of the fiscal year – September 30 – to enact legislation to fund the programs covered by the appropriations process, or the government will shut down. ”
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US Announces Steps To Curtail Visa Wait Time For Pakistanis
There have been significant challenges for Pakistani students over the years. It is encouraging to see the US focusing on reducing wait times for visa applicants!
“More than 10,000 Pakistani visa applicants originally scheduled for 2024 at the US Consulate-General in Karachi are now receiving notices that their appointments have been rescheduled in 2023, some as early as next week, the US Embassy in Islamabad says in a press release.”
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Prospective Students “Actively Researching” Sustainability Strategies
This article provided a good overview of the various studies about what prospective students are looking at and the differences by country. For those who want to do a deeper dive, the article has links to the different studies.
“In each of the papers released so far, the company urges universities to ensure that their environmental sustainability credentials are easy to find for students”
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How Canada-India Relations Crumbled
As many of you may have heard, there are extreme tensions between the governments of Canada and India. India, for some time, has been accusing Canada of anti-India activities by extreme activist groups in Canada. This was discussed by the leaders at the recent G-20 Summit. Most recently, “Prime Minister Trudeau made an explosive statement before the Canadian Parliament that Ottawa was pursuing “credible allegations” from Canadian intelligence against New Delhi for playing a role in the assassination of a prominent Sikh Canadian leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil in June”. This was followed by a series of actions taken by both countries.
Canada expelled India’s top diplomat; India also expelled Canada’s top diplomat. Both countries have issued travel advisories, and India is pushing Indians in Canada to register their locations with the Indian consulates. The latest today is India is now suspending visa services for Canadians.
It is difficult to predict where the relationship is heading and what the long-term impacts will be. As we know, students from India make up one of the largest cohorts of international students in Canada. We will follow the situation and continue to provide updates. As of now, there don’t appear to be any solutions on the horizon. The situation is fluid, and our team will continue to monitor the news and provide updates as new information comes through.
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