All About E-Verify: A Q&A with Jason Fry

Jason Fry, AVP of Employer Services Product with Equifax Workforce Solutions, is answering some common questions about E-Verify and offering insight into what’s new with the program.

What is E-Verify?
JF: E-Verify is maintained by the U.S. Government. According to e-verify.gov, “E-Verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to further confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. E-Verify employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of newly hired employees by electronically matching information provided by employees on the Form I-9 against records available to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”*
 
It is important to note that E-Verify does not take the place of the Form I-9 completion process.  Employers who participate in E-Verify will still need to complete an I-9 for each new hire.
 
How does E-Verify work?
JF: Employers create a case to confirm employee eligibility, and typically they’ll receive a response quickly. There are two kinds of responses: Employment Authorized or additional action needed. If the SSA and DHS records match the information on the Form I-9, the employee's E-Verify case generally produces an Employment Authorized result, which confirms the employee’s work eligibility. If the information does not match, or if additional information is needed, the case may move to an Unconfirmed Data or Photo Confirmation result. Once the employer takes action, those results can sometimes resolve to Employment Authorized, but if the information still doesn’t match, a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) result is produced, indicating that the employee may need to take further action to complete the case and verify employment eligibility.
 
How does Equifax work together with E-Verify?
JF: Equifax Workforce Solutions has a custom integration with E-Verify as part of our I-9 Management service. This means employers that work with us can save time by automating the Form I-9 workflow to help capture required E-Verify information, then directly submitting information from the Form I-9 to the E-Verify system. I-9 Management also helps monitor open E-Verify cases and notifications help alert employers to take action. We integrate updates to E-Verify into our system to help employers keep up with regular E-Verify changes and employers don’t have to be certified to use our system.
 
Our team works closely with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and has ongoing conversations with them to help ensure continued alignment, giving our I-9 Management solution even more value.
 
What happens if E-Verify goes down?
JF: E-Verify can be affected by maintenance, updates, or government shutdowns, which can cause frustration for employers trying to manage E-Verify cases and is outside of the control of Equifax Workforce Solutions. However, during any announced outage by USCIS, Equifax I-9 Management users can still create E-Verify cases that will be queued and automatically submitted once E-Verify is back online.
 
We also monitor for unannounced system outages in real time to check the cases moving between our solution and E-Verify. If a certain threshold of cases is not being accepted by E-Verify, we can see that on our end. Employers typically don’t have to do anything to help ensure their E-Verify cases are still being managed properly even in the event of E-Verify downtime.
 
How do employers know whether they need to participate in E-Verify?
JF: For some employers, E-Verify is mandatory under certain state laws and for contractors in certain situations. For other employers, E-Verify is voluntary, and if you fall into that category you might be wondering, why E-Verify? E-Verify helps to ensure that employers are hiring a legal workforce by adding an extra layer of verification to the employment eligibility process. This not only helps to secure U.S. jobs but can also help to ensure your company is hiring a more compliant workforce. 
 
What does an employer need to do in the case of a TNC result? 
JF: In the event of a TNC result, the employer must notify the employee and provide the employee a chance to take action to resolve the mismatched result. Employers are required to act on TNCs within ten federal working days. If the employer does not notify the employee within the specified time period, E-Verify can remove the employer’s access to the system and terminate their E-Verify account.
 
Are there any new updates to the E-Verify process that employers should be aware of?
JF: Recently, USCIS announced that they are emailing employees directly about any TNC cases. Any employees that receive a TNC after August 9, 2022, will be sent a letter via email (using the email address they provided in their Form I-9) from USCIS that provides details on what a TNC is and what the next steps in the TNC process are. Employers should be aware that their employees may receive this letter so they should communicate any TNCs to their employees quickly to help avoid confusion. 
 
For more information on the Equifax E-Verify integration or our I-9 Management solution, please contact us. And don’t forget to download the HR Checklist for I-9 Enforcement to learn about the steps you can take today to help start getting your I-9 processes in shape. Including:

• What to include in your I-9 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
• Why training for Section 2 Completers is essential
• How you should get started today with a self-audit

*E-Verify, 2022

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