The primary reason you should verify– it is illegal to employ ineligible workers! Since 1986, U.S. employers have been required to verify employees by completing the Form I-9 and reviewing identification documents. E-Verify compares the information on the I-9 to the actual government records at the Social Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security (USCIS, etc.), and state Department of Motor Vehicles records.

E-Verify is mostly voluntary but is required by many state laws and for federal contractors. If you enroll, E-Verify does not replace Form I-9 but uses information from the form to verify your new hire’s work eligibility. Employers are fully liable if a worker is found to be ineligible even after completing Form I-9, whereas participating in E-Verify provides a “safe harbor” when an employee is reported by E-Verify to be work-authorized but is later discovered to be ineligible.

You may not be required to enroll in E-Verify but you should! Do you trust your ability to:

• Complete Form I-9 correctly and legally?
• Know the rules regarding refugees, asylees, automatic extensions, etc.?
• Accept the right ID documents to prove the employee’s identity and eligibility?
• Recognize fraudulent ID documents?

North Korean IT Workers in Western Firms Now
Demanding Ransom for Stolen Data

“North Korean information technology (IT) workers who obtain employment under false identities in Western companies are not only stealing intellectual property, but are also stepping up by demanding ransoms in order to not leak it, marking a new twist to their financially motivated attacks.”

Yes, Verify I-9, LLC centralizes and standardizes your verification process. Each of your hiring sites can submit verifications directly to us, if required. 

Verifyi9 is an Employer Agent of the E-Verify program, meaning that we are a private company authorized by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service to conduct verifications on your behalf. We offer the exact same service as the government E-Verify site, but with “value added.” For that reason, you do not sign up with both services. 

After you hire a new employee and complete the Form I-9 required for all new hires, we query federal databases using information from sections 1 and 2 of the I-9 form. If you have correctly completed the form, we will have all of the info that we need. 

You may submit a verification only after a candidate accepts an offer of employment and after you and the new hire complete Form I-9. While you can submit the new hire for verification before their start date as long as the I-9 is complete, you must verify no later than three business days after they start. We provide more information on this topic in our Support Center online.

In most cases, you are required to verify all newly-hired employees, both U.S. citizens and non-citizens, while participating in E-Verify. You may not pre-screen applicants for employment, go back and check current employees, or re-verify employees who have temporary work authorization. (Different rules apply to federal contractors; see below). If you are located in a state that does not require E-Verify by state law but are signing up to satisfy another state’s law, we can minimize your commitment to verify new hires.

An independent contractor is considered a separate business with its own employees. You may only verify your own new hires, not those of your sub-contractors. Your subs are probably subject to the same E-Verify requirements as are you, so you should encourage them to sign up. If you hold a public contract, you will be required to certify that your subs have enrolled in E-Verify in most states. That said, check your state’s laws for details.

Yes, you may end your verification program and your relationship with Verify I-9, LLC at any time, according to our agreement. 

No, participation in E-Verify does not protect your company from federal work site enforcement. However, an employer who verifies work authorization is presumed to have not knowingly hired an unauthorized alien. Several new state and local laws, however, do consider participation in a verification program to be a protection against prosecution for hiring an illegal worker. 

Some states only require E-Verify for companies receiving public contracts. Others, like Arizona, Georgia and South Carolina, require all employers to verify. Regardless of your state or local government’s requirements, participating in E-Verify improves your standing in the business community and in the eyes of your customers. 

Federal contractors are required to verify all new hires and existing employees working on the contract. You may also be required to ensure that your sub-contractors are also enrolled in E-Verify, but you are not required to verify the sub-contractors’ employees. 

Form I-9 rules govern whether an individual is considered self-employed with respect to the use of E-Verify. A self-employed individual is not required to complete Form I-9 for himself or herself unless the individual is an employee of a business entity. If the self-employed individual is not required to complete Form I-9, he or she may not be required to enroll in E-Verify; however, a sole proprietor may be required to enroll under a state law. Also, self-employed individuals may enroll in E-Verify if they plan to hire additional employees at a later date. A self-employed individual must have a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) before enrolling in and using E-Verify. 

Optional Practical Training (OPT) is temporary employment that is directly related to an F-1 student’s major area of study. Certain students are eligible to receive a 17-month extension of post-completion OPT. The F-1 student applying for the STEM extension needs to provide your E-Verify company identification number on her Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) in order to be granted the extension.

As the student’s employer, your company must enroll in E-Verify for her to maintain her OPT status. Enrolling in E-Verify via an Employer Agent like Verifyi9 will not allow you to avoid direct involvement with E-Verify; signing a participation agreement; etc. If you do not participate in E-Verify, the OPT status will expire and you will be unable to continue to employ the worker.

To extend OPT, the student must apply before her current status expires, so do not delay enrollment. 

We will provide the USCIS-issued Company ID number (also known as the “federal work authorization number” or “E-Verify number”) that your OPT employee requires to extend their eligibility. Our service meets the requirements of the OPT program. 

Participation in our verification program should require no more administrative effort than is currently required to complete and maintain the I-9 form. Additional administrative costs will be minimal or non-existent for most employers. 

We can have your verification program up and running in a day or two with verifications as low as $9.95 per new employee! We offer a rush signup of four hours or less for a small additional fee. Click the button below to get started!