E-verify is a website where enrolled employers can check to see if an employee is eligible to work in the United States based on the documents they have presented. Although, employers should remember that even if they use E-verify, they still need to complete Form I-9 for each of their employees.

Your business will need to decide if signing up for E-verify would be a good choice for your business, but to help with that, some of the advantages and disadvantages are listed below.

Advantages

• For certain federal and state government contractors, using E-verify is required. If this is required, it will be included in the contract. In most cases, E-verify will be voluntary. Although, there are some states that require employers to use it. Also, the federal government may mandate its use by certain companies.
• Companies that register with E-verify are allowed to offer eligible foreign student-employees that have F-1 visa status 24 additional months of optional practical training. Many employers will find this useful for the recruitment and retention of employees, especially for STEM students who fail to obtain a visa in the H1-B lottery. Additionally, employers can employ certain STEM students for a period of up to 36 months without having to petition for an H1-B visa.
• Employers who use E-verify may be less likely to receive a Social Security “no-match” letter.
• Employers say the system is easy to use after the first couple of weeks of getting used to it and handling any problems with the non-confirmation process, and the results are fast.

Disadvantages

• By signing up for the E-verify system, employers are permitting the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to audit your company’s data. Every thirty days, your data will be reviewed by E-verify’s Monitoring and Compliance Unit to see if it meets normal statistical parameters. Should an issue be found, the relevant government agency will be informed that an audit should be conducted. Several agencies, such as ICE, the Justice Department’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, SSA, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, have Memoranda of Understanding that permits them to share E-verify’s data, which can result in you being audited.
• ICE has stated that using E-verify will not affect the chances of being audited or affect the results of an audit.
• Using the E-verify system can be expensive as more than one employee will need to be trained to use the system. Also, it will be important to keep up with any changes to the system, which can be time-consuming.
• E-verify is off-line at times due to maintenance issues, which could delay any submissions.
• E-verify cannot be used when the government is shut down. Once it opens, there is generally a very limited period of time in which data for employees that were hired during the time of the shutdown can be submitted. This can be difficult for employers.
• E-verify could produce incorrect non-confirmation of an employee’s work authorization.

Employer Takeaways

E-verify is a great way to quickly check to see if your employees are authorized to work in the United States. However, you are still required to complete Form I-9 for every one of your employees, and this can be difficult and confusing. But if you use an electronic I-9 management service. It will guide you through the process and make sure that your I-9s are always completed correctly and maintained for the required amount of time.