{"id":12763,"date":"2022-08-29T09:55:41","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T13:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/?p=12763"},"modified":"2022-10-24T14:09:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T18:09:55","slug":"e-verify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/e-verify\/","title":{"rendered":"E-Verify Can Help Employers with Form I-9 Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"e-verify\"What Employers Should Know About E-Verify<\/h2>\n

Federal law requires employers to only hire individuals who may legally work in the United States\u2014either U.S. citizens or authorized foreign nationals. To comply with the law, employers must verify the identity and employment authorization of each individual they hire by completing and retaining the Employment Eligibility Verification document (Form I-9). Despite employers\u2019 best efforts, compliance with federal law can be difficult. Enter E-Verify.<\/p>\n

To enhance enforcement of immigration law, the federal government implemented E-Verify. Utilizing E-Verify can help employers improve their Form I-9 compliance and limit potential violations. The following article provides more information on what E-Verify is, how it works and factors for employers to consider before enrolling in this program.<\/p>\n

What Is E-Verify?<\/h2>\n

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 authorized the federal government to implement E-Verify to assist employers in complying with federal immigration law. E-Verify is a free, web-based program that allows employers to quickly and easily confirm newly hired employees\u2019 identities and employment eligibility. This program is administered by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. There are approximately 1 million employers currently enrolled in E-Verify.<\/p>\n

E-Verify compliments Form I-9 by enhancing employment verification processes. The program is compatible with Form I-9 and uses information from employees\u2019 completed forms. E-Verify is tailored to employers and provides convenient features, including 24-hour secure access, instant verification results, photo matching to combat document fraud, user flexibility, usage monitoring, proof of compliance in the event of government audits, interactive training, personalized assistance and alerts when there\u2019s a record mismatch.<\/p>\n

Although E-Verify uses information from Form I-9, there are important differences. For example, all employers are required by federal law to complete Form I-9 for each newly hired employee; on the other hand, E-Verify is voluntary for most employers. Employers may be forced to enroll in the program as a result of a legal ruling, and some states require employers to use E-Verify as a condition of business licensing. In particular, federal contractors subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify clause must enroll in the program.<\/p>\n

Additionally, E-Verify requires a Social Security number and photographs of List B documents, both of which are not required to complete Form I-9. Further, employers must use Form I-9 to reverify expired employment eligibility documents, but they may not use E-Verify for that purpose.<\/p>\n

How Does E-Verify Work?<\/h2>\n

E-Verify begins with a completed Form I-9. First, an employer enters an employee\u2019s Form I-9 information into E-Verify. Then, E-Verify confirms the employee\u2019s employment eligibility by comparing the employee\u2019s Form I-9 information against records from the SSA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The process of verifying an individual\u2019s employment eligibility is referred to as a \u201ccase\u201d and typically takes only a few seconds. From there, E-Verify confirms the employee\u2019s employment eligibility or indicates that the employee needs to take further action to establish their eligibility. An employer can only verify the employment eligibility of a single employee at a time.<\/p>\n

E-Verify case results may be one of the following:<\/p>\n