Editorial · March 16, 2024
E-Verify: How Employers Check Work Eligibility
E-Verify is a free online system that lets employers confirm a new hire may work in the United States. An employer enters data from the worker's Form I-9, and the system compares it with federal records. The answer usually comes back in seconds. This guide explains the basics for small business owners and new managers.
What E-Verify does
E-Verify is a web-based system. Congress authorized it in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. It is run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) together with the Social Security Administration (SSA).
An employer does not type in anything it likes. It uses the details already on the worker's Form I-9. E-Verify then compares those details with records held by the Department of Homeland Security and the SSA. The agency says results can arrive in as little as three to five seconds.
The service has no fee. USCIS describes it as fast, free and easy to use. It also says more than one million employers are enrolled, with over 2.4 million hiring sites.
How E-Verify differs from Form I-9
Many people mix up the two. They are not the same thing, and E-Verify does not replace the form.
Form I-9 traces back to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Employers use it to record the identity and work eligibility documents each new worker shows.
E-Verify comes second. It takes information from the finished Form I-9 and checks it electronically. In short, the form is the paper record, and E-Verify is the extra electronic check. An employer who joins E-Verify still fills out Form I-9 first.
How the steps work
The process runs in a few plain steps.
- The employer enrolls online and signs in.
- The new hire completes Form I-9.
- The employer creates a case using the data from that form.
- E-Verify returns a result, usually within seconds.
- The employer closes the case.
The USCIS employer pages describe the same path: create a case, get results, and close the case. The site also offers guides, manuals, posters and sample notices for employers who need help getting started. It lists free webinars too, including a 30 minute overview for people who are thinking about joining.
What a mismatch means
Sometimes E-Verify cannot confirm a case right away. The system calls this a Tentative Nonconfirmation, often shortened to TNC or "mismatch." It does not decide the outcome for the worker. It means the data did not line up with federal records, and the worker may need to take a next step.
Typos cause some mismatches. E-Verify has a feature that prompts employers to double check data before a case is likely to mismatch. USCIS said this change cut data entry errors and first-time mismatches by about 30 percent when it arrived in 2007.
The employer must tell the employee about the mismatch. A system email to the worker does not replace that duty. In 2022 E-Verify also revised its Further Action Notices to add clearer steps and a section on employee rights.
Who must use E-Verify
Rules depend on who the employer is and where it works. Some federal contractors must use the system under the federal contractor rule. USCIS keeps a section on who is affected, plus exemptions and timeframes.
Some states also tie E-Verify to contracting or business licensing, for some or all employers. USCIS lists Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia. Florida joined that list on January 1, 2021. The scope differs from state to state, so check your state's law and local legal resources.
A short history
The program began as a pilot. In 1997 the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and the SSA started the Basic Pilot in six states: California, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, New York and Texas. Joining was voluntary, and employers had to phone the SSA to confirm some details.
The Basic Pilot was renamed E-Verify in 2007. Use grew fast after that. USCIS data show 24,144 participating employers in 2007 and 998,434 by 2021.
Photo matching was added in 2007 as a first step toward using biometric data. A fraud alert feature followed in 2013. It locks Social Security numbers that are suspected of fraudulent use.