Since the U.S. Government "shut down" on Tuesday, October 1, 2013, many questions have arisen regarding the processing of immigration applications and petitions. Below is the current status of various agencies:

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: According to its website, all USCIS offices worldwide are open. All appointments and interviews should be attended as scheduled and all fees for service activities performed by USCIS are not affected by the lapse in funding. E-Verify is currently unavailable. For the USCIS website, please click here.

• U.S. Department of Labor: DOL's iCert portal (which processes labor certifications/PERM and prevailing wage requests, among other matters) has ceased operating during the government shutdown. For a link to the iCert portal, please click here.

• U.S. Department of State: DOS has published its procedures during the government shutdown. DOS plans to continue with as many normal operations as possible and will be continually monitoring funding levels. For additional information, please click here.

• U.S. Embassies: Several Embassies have published releases indicating that they are currently operating as usual during the shutdown. However, for more information on the State Department's shutdown procedures, see the above link. For information on specific Embassies, please click here.

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection: CBP will continue to be operational during the shutdown as an essential public safety agency. For this announcement, click here.

• Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR): Immigration courts are continuing to adjudicate detained cases. Other functions have been suspended for the duration of the shutdown. For specific court status or other information, click here.

• U.S. Postal Service: USPS will be operating normally throughout the government shutdown. For the USPS website, please click here.