E-Verify: what it checks, and the process after a mismatch

E-Verify is a United States government system that compares the information from an employee’s completed I-9 against records held by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration, and returns a result. It is an addition to the I-9 process, not a replacement for it: the form is still completed, retained and subject to the same rules.

Participation is voluntary for most employers under federal law, mandatory for federal contractors whose contracts carry the relevant clause, and mandatory for some or all employers in a number of states. Whether it applies to you is a jurisdictional question that changes, and the answer determines a good deal else — enrolled employers take on obligations they cannot then apply selectively.

What E-Verify does and does not do

• It confirms whether the data on the I-9 matches government records for that person.
• It does not verify identity beyond that match, and it does not detect a person using another individual’s genuine details.
• It does not replace the I-9. The form is still completed first and retained afterwards.
• It may not be used before an offer is accepted, and it may not be run on existing employees except where a specific rule requires it.
• It may not be used selectively — running it on some new hires and not others is a prohibited practice.
• Employers who use it must photocopy certain documents and follow the notice-posting requirements.

Tentative nonconfirmation is not a result about the person

When the data does not match, the case returns a tentative nonconfirmation. It usually means a records problem — a name changed after marriage and never updated with the agency, a hyphenated surname entered differently, a typo in a number. The employer must notify the employee promptly and privately, give them the notice the system produces, and let them decide whether to contest. While a case is being contested, the employer may not suspend the employee, reduce their hours, withhold pay, delay training or take any other adverse action. That prohibition is the single most violated rule in the whole system, and it is violated by managers acting on instinct before HR hears about it.

Brief the hiring managers before you enrol, not after the first case. The damage in this area is almost always done in the two days between a mismatch appearing and somebody who knows the rules finding out about it.

Running it properly

1. Confirm whether you are required to participate, federally or by state, and document the answer.
2. Complete the I-9 first. The case is created from it, within the timeframe the system requires after the employee starts.
3. Enter the data exactly as it appears on the form, and check it before submitting — most mismatches are typing errors.
4. Post the required notices where applicants and employees can see them.
5. On a tentative nonconfirmation, notify the employee privately, provide the notice, record their decision, and take no adverse action while it is contested.
6. Close every case. Open cases are a finding in themselves.
7. Keep the case records with the I-9 for the same retention period.

The records around the cases

What an audit examines is consistency: that every new hire in scope had a case, that none were run early or selectively, that notices were given, that adverse action was not taken, and that cases were closed. Ettex Forms captures the internal steps — notification given, employee decision, dates — so the sequence is evidenced rather than remembered; Ettex Records keeps the case records with the i 9 form and its retention date; and Ettex Docs holds the written policy that says who runs cases and when, alongside the employee onboarding checklist it belongs to.

To be explicit: we are not an E-Verify vendor and this is not legal advice. Cases run only through the government system or an authorised agent. State mandates, federal contractor rules and the notice requirements change, and your employment counsel is the authority on which apply to you.