E-Verify Inaccessible Due to Government Shutdown

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Currently, employers will not be able to access their E-Verify accounts and services due to the federal government shutdown. The E-Verify program is run by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which is one of the agencies affected by the shutdown and until funding for the government is resolved these services will remain inaccessible. In the meantime, employers should plan to keep track of all new hires during this shutdown.

This means that while E-Verify is unavailable, employers will not be able to access their E-Verify accounts to create an E-Verify case, enroll ins E-Verify, view or take action on any case, add or edit any user accounts, reset passwords, terminate accounts or run reports. Also, employees will be unable to resolve E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs).

Employers should also be aware that many upcoming webinars have been canceled and that there will be no telephone or email support during this time.

DHS recognizes that this has a significant impact on operations, and to help minimize the burden on both employers and employees they will be implementing the following policies:

• The “three-day rule” for creating E-Verify cases is suspended for cases affected by the unavailability of E-Verify.
• The period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended.
• DHS will provide additional guidance regarding “three-day rule” and period to resolve TNCs deadlines once operations resume.
• Employers may not take adverse action against an employee because the E-Verify case is in an interim case status, including while the employee’s case is in an extended interim case status due to the unavailability of E-Verify.
• Federal contractors with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause should contact their contracting officer to inquire about extending federal contractor deadlines.

The government shutdown may continue into the new year so employers should implement methods for keeping track of new hires and employee issues so that cases can be created once the system is back online. DHS also suggests the use of several of their free E-Verify resources which can be found at https://www.e-verify.gov/e-verify-and-e-verify-services-are-unavailable