May 16, 2008

Updates to E-Verify

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced changes to the E-Verify system that it claims will reduce E-Verify’s error rate. E-Verify allows employers to utilize government data bases, including those of the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security, to confirm verification of work eligibility. However, an unacceptable number of employees receive tentative non-confirmation letters through E-Verify when in fact they are work authorized. An example of a large source of errors deals with naturalized citizens who have not yet updated their records with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The system will still show the person coded as a permanent resident and there will be a mismatch with their claim to U.S. citizenship. USCIS reported it is implementing improvements with the goal of reducing those and other errors.

Starting May 5, 2008, the E-Verify system will include this updated naturalization data, which is expected to verify the citizenship status of workers hired by employers enrolled in the E-Verify system.

USCIS also announced that E-Verify will include real-time data from the Integrated Border Inspection System, which should reduce the number of erroneous non-confirmations triggered by newly arrived workers who are authorized to work.

USCIS says it plans to share its citizenship records with the SSA and will also compare E-Verify data against Department of State passport records. Together, both developments will hopefully result in fewer errors.