Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn
Contrary to an earlier report, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has postponed the launch of enhancements to modernize E-Verify which will allow the employment eligibility verification system to remain available from March 23, 2018, at 12 a.m. to March 26, 2018, at 8 a.m. Eastern, and allow all regular employment eligibility verification timelines to continue to apply, according to a message from the USCIS.
The USCIS – the government agency overseeing lawful immigration to the United States – has apologized for any inconvenience and believes E-Verify users will find the delayed enhancements worth the wait since they feature improvements to photo matching, reduced Tentative Nonconfirmations, and easier and faster creation of cases. The upcoming enhancements to E-Verify will:
- Incorporate more plain language for instructions;
- Provide real-time feedback on errors;
- Transfer case data to the new modernized system;
- Prevent users in a Pending Termination status from submitting new cases;
- Relax permissions to allow general users to see all cases created by a company;
- Eliminate the Request Name Review Process;
- Streamline the E-Verify case creation process;
- Alert users earlier in the case creation process when a duplicate is found;
- Implement an auto-scroll feature;
- Allow users to enter multiple names in the “Other Last Names” field;
- Enhance the document number helper text and visuals;
- Change the “Hire Date” to the employee’s first day of employment;
- Update photo-matching selection to accommodate situations when the photo displayed is not of a person;
- Make the photo-matching process more compatible with smartphones and tablets;
- Update the process to improve the initial match rate;
- Streamline the Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) process;
- Reduce the steps needed to close a case;
- Require users to enter a reason why an employee is working after receiving a Final Nonconfirmation (FNC); and
- Update the “View/Search Cases” process so that it is easier to use.
On March 16, 2018, ESR News reported that the E-Verify system would be temporarily unavailable from March 23, 2018, at 12 a.m. to March 26, 2018, at 8 a.m. Eastern Time due to system enhancements, and that E-Verify users should view the E-Verify Outage Fact Sheet for more information. While E-Verify was unavailable, employers would not have been able to access their E-Verify accounts.
The E-Verify outage would not affect the requirements for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers must still complete Form I-9 no later than the third business day after employment and comply with all Form I-9 requirements outlined in the Handbook for Employers (M-274) and on I-9 Central. Also, myE-Verify would be unavailable and employees would not have access to their accounts.
Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), all U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for workers hired after November 6, 1986. E-Verify compares information from the Form I-9 to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records to confirm employment eligibility. For more information about E-Verify, visit www.uscis.gov/e-verify.
ESR is a Designated E-Verify Employer Agent
Employment Screening Resources (ESR) – a leading global background check firm – is also a Designated E-Verify Employer Agent that provides a robust E-Verify and Form I-9 solution to help employers verify work status and electronically capture and retain required information. To learn more about E-Verify and Form I-9 services from ESR, visit www.esrcheck.com/Background-Checks/Form-I-9-E-Verify/.
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