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What is the E-Verify Program?
The E-Verify Program
is an Internet-based system run by the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in
partnership with the Social Security
Administration. Currently free to employers and
available in all 50 states, the E-Verify E-Verify
Program provides an automated link to federal
databases to help employers determine the work
eligibility of new hires and the validity of their
Social Security numbers. For more information on
this voluntary program, visit the
USCIS Web
site
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Am I required to participate?
While the E-Verify
program is voluntary in most areas, more and more
states are considering making participation
mandatory. Some Federal government employers and
violators of certain immigration laws may be
ordered to participate. Back to
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Why should I consider participating?
E-Verify is currently
the best means available for employers to
electronically verify the employment eligibility of
their newly hired employees. The E-Verify virtually
eliminates Social Security mismatch letters,
improves the accuracy of wage and tax reporting,
protects jobs for authorized U.S. workers, and
helps U.S. employers maintain a legal workforce.
For more information about the Form I-9, Employment
Eligibility Verification process, please see the
related link.
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What is a Third Party Agent?
A Third Party Agent
is a liaison between the E-Verify Program and
employers wishing to participate, but who choose to
outsource submission of employment eligibility
verification queries for newly hired employees. The
Third Party Agent conducts the verification process
on behalf of the employer. A Third Party Agent must
register online and sign a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with SSA and USCIS. Once
the MOU is approved, the Third Party Agent can
then begin registering employers/clients who
have designated it to perform the company's
verification services. Each employer/client will
also be required to sign an MOU and will have a
unique E-Verify client number.
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Can I verify the immigration status of a new hire
that is not a U.S. citizen?
No. E-Verify verifies
a new hire's employment eligibility, not his or her
immigration status. Back to
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What information is required?
After hiring a new
employee and completing the Employment Eligibility
Verification form (Form I-9), required for all new
hires (regardless of E-Verify participation), one
must submit a query that includes information from
sections 1 and 2 of the Form I-9, including the
employee's name, date of birth, Social Security
account number (SSN), the citizenship status he or
she attests to, an A# or I-94# (if applicable), the
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. Back to
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When do I do the verification?
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 the E-Verify program 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 the
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. Back to
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Which employees should be verified?
As a participant in
the E-Verify Program, employers are required to
verify ALL newly hired employees, both U.S.
citizens and non-citizens. Employers may not verify
selectively, and must verify all new hires while
participating in the program. The program may not
be used to prescreen applicants for employment, go
back and check employees hired before the company
signed the MOU, or re-verify employees who have
temporary work authorization. However, Topping
Investigations may be able to assist with that
process. Back to
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Is participation a "safe harbor"?
An employer who
verifies work authorization under the E-Verify
Program has established a rebuttable presumption
that it has not knowingly hired an unauthorized
alien. Participation in the program does not
provide a “safe harbor” from worksite enforcement,
however. Back to
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Can we "opt out"?
If your company joins
the program and later decides that the E-Verify
Program does not provide the results anticipated or
simply is not what you expected, you may drop out
of the program by sending written notice and brief
explanation to the E-Verify Program indicating that
your company no longer wishes to
participate. Back to top