Our Human Resources Blog

Self Service came to E- Verify in March!   The US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) launched a new "E-Verify Self Check" program allowing individuals the opportunity to check their employment eligibility status and correct their records before they formally apply for a job. Initially the new voluntary service is being tested in DC, VA, AZ, CO ID & MS.  The goal is for the program to be available nationwide by the end of 2012. 

The “E-Verify Self Check” is not for employer use and employers can not require applicants to use the “self check” to prove work authorization. In addition, the results of a self check query do not replace an employer’s requirement to fulfill eligibility requirements through E-Verify.  So what does the system accomplish?  The goal of the new “self check” system is to ease the workload on employers/contractors by shifting some of the burden to job applicants before they even step in an office for interviews.

Employers who use E-Verify are known to receive many “tentative non confirmations” (TNC’s) in response to their queries in E-Verify. These TNC’s indicate some issue needs to be resolved before authorization can be granted. In some cases TNC’s are as simple as errors in records. In other cases, they can be more serious such as issues concerning citizenship or visa status.

In 2004-2007, TNC's returned under E-Verify were as high as 8%.  They have been reduced to about 2.6%, but continue to be a problem for many employers.  One of the purposes of the self check program is to help reduce the legwork for employers during the hiring process by potentially reducing the number of TNC’s that are received.

While the launching of the “self check” has the potential to alleviate some of the burdens to employers, it still remains to be seen whether individuals will actually choose to use the system and if they do- whether it will be easy for them to correct errors/inaccuracies that they find??