U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced a significant expansion of the E-Verify Status Change Report, creating new compliance obligations for E-Verify employers and substantially increasing the number of employees who may appear on the report. Employers should review their internal processes now to ensure they are prepared to
Continue Reading E-Verify’s Expanded Status Change Report: What Employers Need to KnowThank you to Amy C. Hoang for her contributions.
On May 29, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a proposed rule that would significantly expand E-Verify obligations for employers that receive federal funding. Among the sweeping revisions, one provision stands out: a requirement that recipients and subrecipients of
Continue Reading Embedding E-Verify into Federal Funding: Where Immigration and Grant Compliance ConvergeThis week, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) sent email alerts and added guidance on the E‑Verify What’s New area on their website establishing dates for Form I‑9 Section 2 (and related Section 1 notations) for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) countries with terminations stayed by litigation. As discussed in our
Continue Reading TPS in the Waiting Room: Courts Continue to Review, Form I-9 Placeholder Dates Appear
The passage of the vaguely named “Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act” led to widespread chatter that the law possibly prohibited employers from using E-Verify unless they were explicitly required to do so under federal law. In response to the confusion, Seyfarth attorneys sought clarification from Illinois state representatives
Continue Reading E-Verify in Illinois: SB0508 Myths Dispelled, Rights ProtectedAdditional contributing author: Matthew Parker*
USCIS’s E-Verify Disposal Announcement
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that employers using E-Verify have until January 5, 2025, to download and retain records for cases last updated on or before December 31, 2014. After this date, USCIS will permanently dispose of
Continue Reading Last Call for E-Verify Records: Compliance Steps Before the January 5, 2025 Disposal
On the morning of February 14, 2024, several clients reached out after encountering issues with the photo matching tool in E-Verify. They reported discrepancies where the photos transmitted by E-Verify did not align with the photos on the employees’ documents. It became increasingly clear that E-Verify was not rendering
Continue Reading Valentines Day Glitch: E-Verify Photo-Match MayhemOn February 17, 2021, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that it will dispose of any E-Verify records older than 10 years on May 14, 2021. On May 19, the E-Verify Records Disposal Date was extended to June 4, 2021. This notice provides a reminder to employers that participation
Continue Reading E-Verify Spring Cleaning
By Dawn Lurie
With a new Administration moving into Washington D.C. amidst tension and confusion, immigration compliance remains top of mind for employers. I know that because I hear from H.R. leadership, General Counsel’s offices, administrators running small family businesses, and shift managers at local pizza places across the country. Some companies tell me they continue to “work from home,” some never left the workplace, and others are operating in a hybrid model. Whatever the industry, wherever the location, and no matter the size, we are witnessing a significant shift in the onboarding process to produce outcomes similar to those achieved in-person; how we complete the Form I-9 is no exception.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt technological barriers that prevented remote work in the past. In doing so, it is forcing changes to the onboarding process while simultaneously addressing health and safety concerns. Employers facing these vexing Form I-9 compliance issues and ongoing confusion are hungry for more explicit directives from the government, and in turn, the government is trying to keep pace. I am hopeful that the new administration, along with the hardworking career government corps, will recognize these challenges and partner with companies as they create effective and safe processes that meet the challenges of 2021, including those hurdles presented in 2020.
Below, we travel back into 2020 in order to flag concerns and frame various I-9 issues for employers, including a slightly updated set of Form I-9 Examples Related to Temporary COVID -19 Policies posted on I-9 Central’s Temporary Policies Related to COVID-19 page, as well as an October 2020 update to the M-775, E-Verify User Manual, concerning Tentative Non Confirmation (TNC) practices.
Continue Reading What’s New in the New Year? Initial I-9 Musings & Treasures from 2020
Late Friday afternoon, April 3, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security posted the following questions and answers in response to stakeholders queries on Form I-9 obligations in the midst of COVID-19. We applaud the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for taking the lead on coordinating these responses and anticipate they will continue to be responsive to employer queries. The Q&A reiterates the original Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidance, including confirming a hard deadline on timing- three days to complete the I-9 initially via a virtual/remote method and then three days to update with an in-person inspection once the business resumes normal operations. The Q&A also provides clarification on how to complete a Form I-9 with an expired driver’s license (sneak peek: use the actual expired date and write COVID-19 on the Form). Curiously the Q&A references electronic systems that don’t offer an additional information box field but suggests attaching a note to the I-9. The Q&A also confirms our suggestion, the person who views the documents in -person should enter their name and date in the Additional Information Box.
Continue Reading New COVID-19 Q&As Related to Form I-9 and E-Verify
With the closure of Social Security Administration (SSA) offices in the wake of COVID-19, we are receiving questions concerning the impact on work authorization for individuals who may have recently entered the U.S. in a temporary work authorized visa status, i.e. H-1B, L-1, TN, E etc.
While the Social Security Number (SSN) is used and required, in a variety of areas, it is not mandatory to be presented as proof of work authorization.
Continue Reading SSA Office Closures and the Impact on SSN Issuance For Foreign Nationals