by Michael Dey | Oct 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
E-Verify is currently unavailable due to a government shutdown.
While E-Verify is unavailable, you will not be able to access your E-Verify account. As a result, you will be unable to:
- Enroll any company in E-Verify
- Verify employment eligibility
- View or take action on any case
- Add, delete or edit any User ID
- Reset passwords
- Edit your company information
- Terminate an account
- Run reports
- View ‘Essential Resources.’ Please note that all essential resources may be found by visiting dhs.gov/e-verify.
In addition, E-Verify Customer Support and related services are closed. As a result:
- Employees will be unable to resolve Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs).
- Telephone and e-mail support will be unavailable. You may send e-mails, however, we cannot respond until we reopen.
- E-Verify webinars and training sessions are cancelled
- E-Verify Self Check will not be available
In the states that require E-verify, unavailability may have an impact on your company’s operations. To minimize the burden on both employers and employees, the following policies have been implemented:
- The ‘three-day rule’ for E-Verify cases is suspended for cases affected by the shutdown. We’ll provide additional guidance once we reopen. This does NOT affect the Form I-9 requirement—employers must still complete the Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay.
- The time period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended. Days the federal government is closed will not count towards the eight federal government workdays the employee has to go to SSA or contact DHS. We will provide additional time once we reopen.
- For federal contractors complying with the federal contractor rule, please contact your contracting officer to inquire about extending deadlines.
- Employers may not take any adverse action against an employee because of an E-Verify interim case status, including while the employee’s case is in an extended interim case status due to a federal government shutdown (consult the E-Verify User Manual for more information on interim case statuses).
by Michael Dey | Sep 13, 2013 | Uncategorized
The new Form I-9 document (expiration date March 31, 2016) used to verify the identity and work authorization of all new hires includes an optional entry line for employees to provide their email addresses. The voluntary electronic verification program, E-Verify, which can be used in addition to, but not replace the Form I-9 process, has a new data field that asks for the employee’s email address. When the employee provides an email address on Form I-9, employers who use E-Verify are required to enter it into E-Verify. In the event of an information mismatch, E-Verify will now send e-mail notifications to those employees. This new email notification does not replace the current process. Employers are still required to notify employees of the mismatch and their right to contest.
Effective Sept. 9, E-Verify has combined the Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) Notice and Referral Letter into the new Further Action Notice, which appears when an employee receives a TNC. The employer must select the language of the notice (English or Spanish), print and give the notice to the employee. The Further Action Notice explains the reason for the TNC and the employee’s right to contest it.
If the employee decides to contest the TNC, the employer must print and issue the new Referral Date Confirmation Notice that informs the employee of the date by which they must initiate contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the Social Security Administration (SSA) to begin resolving the TNC. For employees who have provided email addresses, E-Verify will also provide an e-mail notice informing the employee of the date by which contact must be initiated with DHS or SSA to resolve the TNC.
When first accessing E-Verify after Sept. 9, 2013, E-Verify users must complete a short tutorial and knowledge check about these changes.
by Michael Dey | Jan 4, 2012 | Uncategorized
by Julian Barton, Government Affairs Director
Home Builders Association of South Carolina
Although a federal judge has blocked parts of South Carolina’s new immigration law, sections affecting businesses will still go into effect Jan. 1, 2012. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel left intact a provision requiring employers to use the federal electronic database E-Verify to check workers’ eligibility.
Gergel’s ruling, though, barred the state from enforcing key parts of the law, including: having police check the immigration status of person stopped for even minor traffic offenses if they have “reasonable suspicion” the person is in the country illegally; arresting people on charges of harboring or transporting illegal immigrants; and requiring people to carry immigration documents.
Gergel also let stand provisions authorizing the Department of Public Safety to form a 10-officer immigration enforcement unit, and making it a crime for illegal immigrants to sell fake IDs.
Under the new law, businesses are required to enroll in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system “and to verify the legal status of all new employees through E-Verify within three business days.”
Failure to enroll in and use E-Verify to check out new hires will result in probation for the employer, either with suspension or revocation of the firm’s business licenses, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. However, LLR has promised to work with employers the first six months of the year to help them in the transition to e-verify without fines.
In addition to completing and maintaining the federal employment eligibility verification form — commonly known as the Form I-9 — all employers must within three business days after hiring a new employee verify the individual’s work authorization through the E-Verify, a free Internet-based system maintained by the federal government. Employers may no longer confirm a new employee’s employment authorization with a driver’s license or state identification card!
The database generally provides results in three to five seconds, officials say. If the information matches, the employee is eligible to work in the United States. If there’s a mismatch, E-Verify will alert the employer and the employee will be allowed to work while he or she resolves the problem. If no resolution results, the employer must rescind the job offer.
by Michael Dey | Oct 28, 2011 | Uncategorized
In June Governor Nikki Haley signed into law amendments to the South Carolina Illegal Immigration and Reform Act. The key change to the law requires all employers, beginning January 1, 2012, to verify the employment status of all new employees by using E-Verify.
E-Verify is an online system run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Employers using E-Verify are required to check the status of a newly hired employee within three business days of the employee’s hire date.
Failure to comply with this new law will result in probation, suspension, or revocation of the employer’s South Carolina business license. Under South Carolina law, all private employers are imputed with a South Carolina employment license, or business license, which permits a private employer to employ a person in the state. There is no action required on the part of the employer to receive the business license, but failure to comply with the South Carolina illegal immigration law could result in revocation of the license and termination of the business’ ability to employee people.
Employers using E-Verify must apply to use the system, agree to its terms, and take an online study course and pass an online test before beginning to use the system. The application and testing process takes about two hours.
Click here to log on to E-Verify and begin the process of complying with the law.
Click here for more information about South Carolina’s Illegal Immigration and Reform Act.
