E-Verify Officially Shut Down

E-Verify - the federal electronic employment eligibility verification service—has expired due to the expiration of funding, and it will not be available during the partial shutdown of the U.S. government that began in December.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the program, announced that www.e-verify.gov will not be actively managed or updated until after all funding is restored. Until a continuing resolution is made by Congress and signed by the President, the E-Verify system will continue to be shut down until DHS is fully-funded.

During the shutdown, employers will not be able to enroll in the program; access their E-Verify accounts; create a case; view or take action on any case; add, delete or edit accounts; reset passwords, edit company information, terminate accounts, or run reports.

Workers will not be able to resolve E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs) during the shutdown. In addition, myE-Verify will be unavailable, and employees will not be able to access their myE-Verify accounts.

*Typically, DHS issues instructions on holding cases until they are back online and does not penalize employers for not creating a case in E-Verify within three business days.*

To minimize the burden on both employers and employees, DHS announced that:

• The time period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended. The number of days E-Verify is not available will not count toward the days the employee has to begin the process of resolving their TNCs.

• The three-day rule for creating E-Verify cases is suspended for cases affected by the unavailability of the service.

• Additional guidance regarding the three-day rule and time period to resolve TNC deadlines will be provided once operations resume.

Employers are warned not to take any adverse action against employees while an E-Verify case remains in an interim or limbo status.

The shutdown does not affect an employer's responsibility to verify employment eligibility. Employers must still complete the Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay and comply with all other Form I-9 requirements, DHS said.

Thank you to SHRM for this information.