E-Verify Self Check Service Available in a Few States

The E-Verify Self Check Service is now available to users who maintain an address and are physically located in Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Mississippi, and Virginia [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website].

E-Verify is a free, Internet-based system that determines the employment eligibility of new hires by comparing information from the new hire's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records. E-Verify Self Check was developed in response to a request by Congress to create a service through which workers could check their own employment eligibility. The system will inform workers how to correct mismatches between their records and DHS and SSA records. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) says that once workers have confirmed their employment eligibility using Self Check, they are unlikely to encounter difficulties upon being hired by an E-Verify participating employer.

USCIS notes the following benefits of using Self Check: (1) it will reduce the potential for employment discrimination; (2) it will reduce the number of tentative nonconfirmations issued by E-Verify; and (3) it will begin to incorporate identity assurance into the E-Verify program.

USCIS says that it is unlawful for a current or potential employer to require a worker to provide proof of the individual's positive E-Verify Self Check result in order to keep, accept, or be offered employment.

There is an interactive preview of Self Check on the USCIS website. Self Check will be rolled out to more states at a later date.

Motor vehicle document verification. Later this year, employers will be able to use motor vehicle documents to help determine whether individuals are authorized to work in the United States. Under the voluntary “Records and Images from DMVs for E-Verify (RIDE)” initiative, E-Verify employers will be able to verify their new employee's driver's license, permit, or state-issued ID with the issuing U.S. jurisdiction. The E-Verify system will execute the data verification and respond to the E-Verify user on whether the submitted information matches with the motor vehicle agency data or not.

USCIS believes that the addition of driver's license data in its employment verification process will significantly improve the accuracy and efficiency of E-Verify in verifying identity and work authorization. Employees who are hired to work in the U.S. most often use a U.S. driver's license and Social Security card as their documentation for the Form I-9 and the employment verification process [American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators website, Records and Images from DMVs for E-Verify (RIDE)].