The E-Verify Program Explained and Simplified
By admin ~ October 16th, 2008. Filed under: Employers.
The E-Verify Program Explained and Simplified
(07/08/08)
There are always privacy concerns whenever personal records are under evaluation. Now that E-Verify is in place at many companies, even more concerns are raised. The purpose of the program is to determine the legal work status of newly hired employees. E-Verify makes sure a company is not breaking the law by hiring an unauthorized worker.
To do this, an employer must allow DHS [Department of Homeland Security], SSA [Social Security Administration] or other authorized persons to review the records of its employees. These agencies are also permitted to interview the employer and the worker regarding their experience and verify certain documents relating to their eligibility requirements.
Because ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] does not have a direct links to the E-Verify databases, they will make specific requests for information from time to time on a case by case basis. These records are requested simply to insure that employers are following the rules regarding hiring practices. These agencies also make sure that no one is being discriminated against or that unfair hiring practices are not taking place.
The only people who will be interviewed by these agencies will be those who are now in the E-Verify program. Employees who were hired by the company prior to the implementation of E-Verify will not be affected.
Currently, the E-Verify program is totally voluntary. Employers choose to be in the program on their own. However, certain provisions in the program make this decision difficult to make. It regards the ability of these agencies to enforce INA [Immigration and Naturalization Administration] regulations and all federal laws and to ensure the accuracy of wage reports sent to SSA. But, these agencies counter by saying the program is not intended to be used as a primary method to enforce the laws. Nonetheless, if false claims or unauthorized persons are revealed in the process of reviewing requested documents, the enforcement arm of the law will be notified in these cases.
For employers wishing to use E-Verify and be sure of total compliance on immigration matters, the system is very easy to use. It can all be done online, including registration and a tutorial session which trains the employer on the system.
One reason employers will want to sign up for E-Verify is that F-1 Students [Foreign students working on campus] wanting to extend their status and work authorization for an additional 17 months must be in the database. Fortunately, the E-Verify system is set up to handle such an anticipated volume of applicants due to this requirement.
While the system is designed to handle all kinds of worker status, including H-1 portability [authorization to work for another employer], H-1B [Specialty Occupations], L-1 [Intracompany Transferee], TN [Trade NAFTA status], F-1 OPT [Foreign students with Optimal Practical Training] and refugees [with unlimited right to work], the tutorial and training programs are not currently ready for these particular designations. However, they are being developed.
Another concern employers may have is the many operational and technical questions that will undoubtedly arise from this new system. To alleviate such problems, E-Verify has a customer service section of the website with online resources to answer employer’s basic questions and access to experts who are able to handle the higher level policy issues.
Another major concern deals with those persons with a “Tentative Nonconfirmation” status with the SSA. These are persons whose authorization was denied after the initial application was made. Fortunately, over 95% of these cases are resolved the same day the person contacts the SSA. The primary reason for “Tentative Nonconfirmation” occurs with naturalized citizens who have not updated their records with SSA. To reduce this occurrence, E-Verify recently began including new citizenship data in the initial application process. To make this confirmation even easier, naturalized citizens can simply call CIS directly to resolve the issue. Furthermore, CIS and SSA now share citizenship status records to prevent future mismatches.
While over 99% of the time, “Tentative Nonconfirmation” is resolved on the very day the person contacts DHS to contest the matter, sometimes, through no fault of either the employer or employee, the confirmation process takes longer than the 8 days allowed to resolve the matter. If this happens, the case is placed on a “Case in Continuance” status and the employer is told to take no action against the employee until the matter is fully resolved.
Employees with Temporary Protected Status [TPS = granted a 6 month extension while waiting for new EAD to be issued] do not have to worry about the E-Verify system giving them a “Tentative Nonconfirmation” status. In most cases, they will receive a “Verification in Process” response which means the CIS will check to see if the EAD is pending and if so, inform the employer within the usual 24 hour timeframe.
When those employees with H-1 Portability are entered into E-Verify, there should not be a “Tentative Nonconfirmation” response. The system only checks for I-94 [arrival/departure record] authorization, and not for the correct employer.
Another major issue concerns individuals who have not yet received a Social Security card. This is especially problematic for people who enter under the Blanket L-1 [Multinational Companies who need pre-approval on executives quickly] and TN non-immigrants. It is recommended that these people wait until they have a Social Security number before registering with E-Verify and note the reason for the delay on their Form I-9.
For those employees who are issued a “Final Nonconfirmation” status and remain employed by the company, E-Verify data can be used by ICE should a request be made for such information. Also, ICE performs Form I-9 compliance inspections periodically and can act on this “Final Nonconfirmation” status.
However, special considerations are given with such cases. When an employer feels the employee was simply not given enough time to resolve the issue and does have a right to work in the U.S., the E-Verify system will mark the file as “Case in Continuance” status. This will allow extra time to be given to decide the matter. The employee may continue to work until the case is resolved.
