E-Verify

E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. E-Verify provides an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.

• Am I Required to Participate?
• Why should I consider participating in E-Verify?
• How many employers currently participate in E-Verify?
• How Do I Register for participation in E-Verify?
• Our company has several hiring sites interested in participating in E-Verify. Each site will be conducting the verification process for its newly hired employees. How should these sites register?
• If I sign one MOU, can I use a controlled rollout to implement E-Verify across the organization?
• After an employer registers, how does the program work?
• Can I verify the immigration status of a new hire that is not a U.S. citizen?
• What information is required to conduct an E-Verify initial verification?
• When may an employer initiate a query under E-Verify?
• What is the required timeframe for conducting an employment eligibility check on a newly hired employee?
• Which employees should be verified through the system?
• I would like to use electronic I-9s for my employees. Does USCIS offer a system that would automatically generate E-Verify queries from the electronic I-9s?
• I am an employer with multiple hiring sites. Can one site verify everyone? How?
• What is an E-Verify Third Party Agent for E-Verify?
• What is a Corporate Administrator for E-Verify?
• Can I terminate at any time?
• Does participation in E-Verify provide safe harbor from worksite enforcement?
• Is there a "batch access" method in the system?
• If I am an employer who would like to run an employee's Form I-9 information through E-Verify, but that employer does not yet have a Social Security Number, what should I do?

To find out more about E-Verify, please contact LL.M. Law Group at (877) 880-0872

• Employee's name and date of birth,
• Social Security Number (SSN),
• Citizenship status he or she attests to,
• A number or I-94 number, if applicable,
• Type of document provided on the Form I-9 to establish work authorization status, and
• Proof of identity, and its expiration date, if applicable.

Response to the initial query is sent within seconds of submitting the query. Documents presented for Form I-9 identification only purposes (documents from "List B") to E-Verify employers must have a photograph.

The earliest the employer may initiate a query is after an individual accepts an offer of employment and after the employee and employer complete the Form I-9. The employer must initiate the query no later than the end of three business days after the new hire’s actual start date.

Although an employer may initiate the query before a new hire’s actual start date, it may not pre-screen applicants and may not delay training or an actual start date based upon a tentative non-confirmation or a delay in the receipt of a confirmation of employment authorization. In short, an employee should not face any adverse employment consequences based upon an employer’s use of E-Verify unless a query results in a final nonconfirmation.

For this reason, if the query returns an employment authorization response, an employer cannot speed up the employee’s agreed upon start-date, as that would be disparate treatment based upon E-Verify results of this employee compared to another who may have received a tentative non-confirmation. For example, Company X always assigns a start-date to new employees that are two weeks after the employee has submitted an approved drug test. After the employee has accepted a job with Company X, and after the employee and Company X complete the Form I-9, the company can initiate the E-Verify query. However, the company cannot speed up or delay the employee’s start-date based upon the results of the query (unless the program issues a final non-confirmation, in which case the employee should not be further employed).

Employers must verify employees in a non-discriminatory manner, and may not schedule the timing of queries based upon the new hire’s national origin, citizenship status, race, or other prohibited characteristic.

An employer may initiate the query before a new hire's actual start date; however, it may not pre-screen applicants and may not delay training or an actual start date based upon a tentative non-confirmation or a delay in the receipt of a confirmation of employment authorization. An employee should not face any adverse employment consequences based upon an employer's use of E-Verify unless a query results in a final non-confirmation. In addition, an employer cannot use an employment authorization response to speed up an employee's start date. This would be unfair treatment to use E-Verify results to accelerate employment for this employee compared to another who may have received a tentative non-confirmation.

For example, Company X always assigns a start-date to new employees that is two weeks after the employee has completed an approved drug test. After the employee has accepted a job with Company X and after the employee and Company X completes the Form I-9, the company can initiate the E-Verify query. However, the company cannot speed up or delay the employee's start date based upon the results of the query (unless the program issues a final non-confirmation, in which case the employee should not be further employed).

Employers must verify employees in a non-discriminatory manner and may not schedule the timing of queries based upon the new hire's national origin, citizenship status, race, or other characteristic that is prohibited by U.S. law.