The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that its capacity to print secure documents, such as Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) Cards and Employment Authorization Documents has been reduced as of June 2020. This reduction of secure document printing, will be severely exacerbated by the August 2020 furlough of USCIS Staff.
This situation has developed due to contracts ending with the company responsible for printing these cards. USCIS intended to hire federal employees to replace the contractors; however, its financial situation resulted in a hiring freeze and future furloughs that have impacted the printing of these cards.
While the furlough process would severely hamper normal immigration petitions and processes, this news now expands the backlog on already approved petitions awaiting on these secure documents.