E-Verify and Rehires

Whether or not you verify the employee you just rehired in E-Verify depends on a couple of factors; primarily, whether you treat the employee as a new hire or a rehire and the results of the previous E-Verify verification, if any.

“Employers have the option of treating all rehired employees as new hires by completing a new Form I-9 and creating a case in E-Verify. However, employers also have the option of completing Section B, Reverification and Rehire, for rehires and only completing a new Form I-9 and creating an E-Verify case upon rehiring employees for whom no previous E-Verify cases were created.”

States other ways:

• If you want to verify the employee in E-Verify again, you must treat them as a “new hire” and complete a new I-9.
• If you complete a new I-9, you are treating the employee as a “new hire” and must verify them in E-Verify, per the MoU.
• If you didn’t verify the employee in E-Verify at the first hiring (were not yet enrolled) or they were deemed to be not authorized to work, you should treat them as a “new hire” and complete a new I-9 and E-Verify verification.
• If the employee was successfully verified in E-Verify when first hired and their original form qualifies under the general rules for a Supplement B (formerly Section 3) update, you can treat them as a “rehire” and not complete a new I-9 or second E-Verify verification.

The USCIS guidance seems to indicate that the employer must have a written policy to minimize discrimination in the rehiring process. The guidance also seems to indicate that employers can either 1) determine “rehire” or “new hire” on a case-by-case basis, or 2) opt to treat all rehired employees as “new hires” by completing a new I-9 and E-Verify verification.

See this page at the USCIS website for more information.