Changes to E-Verify accounts

Effective August 1, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") announced that users of its E-Verify program who have not accessed E-Verify for 270 days or more will begin to see their user IDs deactivated. To avoid deactivation, employers who use E-Verify will want to ensure they log into their E-Verify account regularly - and at a minimum employers should set reminders to log in at least once every 9 months.

E-Verify is a free, internet-based system offered by DHS to allow employers to determine the eligibility of their employees to work in the U.S. Since 1986 U.S. law has required employers to verify worker eligibility and to maintain records through the use of form I-9. E-Verify was officially introduced in 2007 after a pilot program that allowed employers to electronically verify worker eligibility in the U.S. The program has grown to over 602,000 participating employers verifying over 13 million employees each year. While E-Verify is an optional program for most employers, it is a required program for certain federal contractors and for any employer who seeks to employ F-1 students during their additional two years of work authorization in the U.S. following graduation as part of the STEM OPT program.