The following information addresses
questions on how the federal government’s shutdown affected E-Verify and Form I-9.
Information For Employers
Form
I-9
The Form
I-9 requirements were not affected during the federal government shutdown. All
employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for every person hired to work
for pay in the United States during the shutdown.
E-Verify
Employees who received a
Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC)
If an employee had a TNC referred
between September 17, 2013 and September 30, 2013 and was not able to resolve
the TNC due to the federal government shutdown, add 12 federal business days to
the date printed on the ‘Referral Letter’ or ‘Referral Date Confirmation.’
Employees have until this new date to contact the Social Security
Administration (SSA) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to resolve
their cases. If you have an employee who decided to contest his or her TNC
while E-Verify was unavailable, you should now initiate the referral process in
E-Verify. Employers may not take any adverse action against an employee because
of a TNC.
Employees who received a
SSA Final Nonconfirmation (FNC) or DHS No Show result
If an employee received a Final
Nonconfirmation (FNC) or No Show because of the federal government shutdown,
please close the case and select “The employee continues to work for the
employer after receiving a Final Nonconfirmation result,” or “The employee
continues to work for the employer after receiving a No Show result.” The
employer must then enter a new case in E-Verify for that employee. These steps
are necessary to ensure the employee is afforded the opportunity to timely
contest and resolve the Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) that led to the FNC
result.
Creating Cases: Three-Day
Rule
You must create an E-Verify case
for each employee hired during or otherwise affected by the shutdown by
November 5, 2013. If you are prompted to provide a reason why the case is late
(i.e., does not conform to the three-day rule), select ‘Other’ from the
drop-down list of reasons and enter ‘federal government shutdown’ in the field.
Federal Contractor Deadlines
Federal Contractor Deadlines
During the federal government
shutdown, federal contractors could not enroll or use E-Verify as required by
the federal contractor rule. If your organization missed a deadline because
E-Verify was unavailable or if it has an upcoming deadline for complying with
the federal contractor rule, please follow the instructions above and notify
your contracting officer of these instructions.
Information For Employees
Information For Employees
If the federal government shutdown
prevented you from contesting a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC), you will be
allowed additional time to contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) or
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). If your TNC was referred between
September 17, 2013 and September 30, 2013, and you were not able to resolve the
mismatch due to the federal government shutdown, you should:
- Add 12 federal business days to the date printed on the
‘Referral Letter’ or ‘Referral Date Confirmation’ that your employer
provided you after you contested the TNC. Federal business days are Monday
through Friday and do not include federal holidays.
- Contact SSA or DHS by the new date to resolve your TNC.
Customer Support
E-Verify Customer Support expects
an increase in requests for assistance. Due to this increase, customers may
experience longer than normal delays and response times. We apologize for any
inconvenience and appreciate your patience. For any questions or additional
information about how the federal shutdown affects E-Verify, please email E-Verify@dhs.gov.
For questions about Form I-9, please visit I-9 Central or email I-9Central@dhs.gov.
Employers and employees may also contact E-Verify at 888-464-4218. Customer
Support representatives are available Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm
local time.
Source: USCIS
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
