E-Verify® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
General Questions about e-verify
What is E-Verify?
Why is Indiana State University participating in E-Verify?
What is the required timeframe for conducting an employment eligibility check, Form I-9, on a newly hired employee?
Questions Employees are asking
Which employees should be verified through the system?
What are the possible responses to the E-Verify query?
Do employees need to provide their Social Security Number on the Form I-9?
What documents do I need to have for the I-9?
Do current employees that are transferred or promoted from one department to another, receive a stipend or supplement
for additional duties, or receive a one-time only need to be E-Verified?
What happens if I do not have a Social Security Number?
What if I receive a Tentative Nonconfirmation?
Do employees continue to work during the verification process?
What happens if an employee chooses not to contest a Tentative Nonconfirmation or does not contact DHS or SSA within eight federal government workdays?
Who keeps track of the eight federal workdays?
Questions Department Supervisors are asking
Are student employees required to be
verified through the system?
Do
individuals being paid via one-time only need to be E-Verified?
Do faculty and staff who are on leave of absence need to be verified again when return they from leave?
Do retirees returning to work need to
be E-Verified?
If a student employee moves from student status to a temporary or regular staff position, do they need to complete a new I-9 and be E-Verified?
What is the required timeframe for conducting an employment eligibility check, Form I-9, on a newly hired employee?
What is the penalty for non-compliance with E-Verify?
What are the possible responses to the E-Verify query?
What is Tentative Nonconfirmation?
Who is responsible for communicating Tentative Nonconfirmations?
How are E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmations resolved?
What are the possible E-Verify responses once a Tentative Nonconfirmation has been contested?
Do employees continue to work during the verification process?
What happens if an employee chooses not to contest a Tentative Nonconfirmation or does not contact DHS or SSA within eight federal government workdays?
Who keeps track of the eight federal workdays?
E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is currently free to employers and is available in all 50 states. E-Verify provides an automated link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers.
Why is Indiana State University participating in E-Verify?
As a result of the Indiana Immigration Bill signed into law by Governor Daniels on May 10, 2011, ISU is required to become an E-Verify employer effective July 1, 2011.
Which employees should be verified through the system?
As a participant in E-Verify, ISU is required to verify all newly hired employees, both U.S. citizens and non-citizens. This includes faculty, staff, temporary, students, graduate assistants, one-time only pays, and re-hired employees where the employee had no expectation of continued employment.
ISU will never E-Verify applicants.
E-Verify only verifies a new hire's employment eligibility, not his or her immigration status.
Individuals Exempt from the Process
- Courtesy appointments
- Independent contractors
- Temporary employees hired through a staffing agency
Are student employees required to be verified through the system?
Yes, ISU is required to verify all newly hired employees, both U.S. citizens and non-citizens. Therefore, if a student is employed at ISU while attending school, his or her legal eligibility to be employed must be confirmed by the E-Verify program.
No. Only new hires or rehires are E-Verified.
Do individuals being paid via one-time only need to be E-Verified?
Yes. Individuals paid via one-time only are employees and are covered by both the I-9 and E-Verify regulations. Note: Employees paid via one-time only must complete the I-9 and be E-Verified on or before the first day of work for pay. Current employees with ISU that are paid via one-time only do not need to be E-Verified.
No. Only new hires or rehires are E-Verified.
Do retirees returning to work need to be E-Verified?
If an employee retires and had no expectation of continued employment at the time they retired but later decides to return to work at ISU, the retiree would need to complete the I-9 and be E-Verified. In addition, retirees who were “grandfathered” in prior to the inception of the I-9 program and do not have an I-9 on file would need to complete the I-9 and be E-Verified.
Yes. The student must do a new I-9 and be E-Verified.
Do employees need to provide their Social Security Number on the Form I-9?
Yes. While the Social Security Number is typically voluntary on the Form I-9, it is mandatory for
E-Verify participants. Therefore, it is mandatory for new employees at Indiana State University to
provide the Social Security Number on the Form I-9.
Note: Documents presented for Form I-9 identification only purposes (documents from "List
B") must have a photograph.
What documents do I need to have for the I-9?
Documents presented for Form I-9 identification only purposes (documents from "List B") must have a photograph and have not expired, please click here for the list of acceptable I-9 documentation.
What happens if I do not have a Social Security Number?
An employee is required to provide his or her SSN in order to complete the E-Verify query. If you do not have a Social Security Number, contact Human Resources or Student Employment for information on how to obtain a Social Security Number. Once you receive a number, you can then complete the I-9 and E-Verify process.
The earliest that ISU may initiate a query is after an individual accepts an offer of employment and after the employee and ISU complete the Form I-9. ISU must initiate the query no later than the end of three business days after the new hire's actual start date. Note: Employees paid by one-time only must complete the I-9 and be E-Verified prior to starting any work.
ISU may initiate the query before a new hire's actual start date; however, it may not be used to pre-screen applicants and may not delay training or an actual start date based upon a tentative nonconfirmation or a delay in the receipt of a confirmation of employment authorization. An employee should not face any adverse employment consequences based upon ISU’s use of E-Verify unless a query results in a final nonconfirmation. In addition, ISU cannot use an employment authorization response to speed up an employee's start date. This would be unfair treatment to use E-Verify results to accelerate employment for this employee compared to another who may have received a tentative non-confirmation.
What is the penalty for non-compliance with E-Verify?
Compliance with E-Verify is achieved through compliance with Form I-9 requirements.
What are the possible responses to the E-Verify query?
- Confirmation: For those employees whose work authorization status can be verified immediately (i.e. whose SSA record matched and confirms U.S. citizenship), the process ends here with a confirmation response returned to the employer through the system within seconds. Based on feedback from USCIS and other universities, approximately 95% of inquiries are anticipated to return as “employment authorized.”
- Tentative Nonconfirmation: In the remaining small minority of cases, the system issues a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC). A TNC does not necessarily mean that the employee is not authorized to work in the United States. Common issues resulting in a TNC include typographical errors, Social Security cards reflecting maiden vs. married names, providing an incorrect immigration status (permanent residences vs. alien authorized to work).
- DHS Verification In Process: A noncitizen’s information provided to SSA matches the information contained in SSA records, but did not match Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records. The case is then automatically referred to DHS for further verification. ISU and the employee do not need to take any action at this point. DHS will respond to most of these cases within 24 hours, although some responses may take up to three federal government workdays.
What is Tentative Nonconfirmation?
This indicates that the employee information submitted to USCIS does not match against USCIS’s records. When this response is received from USCIS, a member from Human Resources or Student Employment, working with the hiring department, will review the information with the employee. After that time, the employee will need to contact the appropriate agency – Social Security Administration or Department of Homeland Security to remedy the discrepancy within eight federal workdays.
What if I receive a Tentative Nonconfirmation?
Human Resources or Student Employment will contact the employee with instructions and will continue with the hire or allow the employee to continue working. Human Resources or Student Employment will contact the hiring department with the final outcome. As for the employee, you will need to decide to either contest or not contest the response from USCIS. If the employee does not contest or contact the appropriate agency, then the employee will be terminated in accordance with E-Verify.
Who is responsible for communicating Tentative Nonconfirmations?
Human Resources or Student Employment will notify the employee of tentative Nonconfirmations and instruct the employee on the steps necessary to contest and resolve an E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmation.
How are E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmation resolved?
When a TNC is issued, Human Resources or Student Employment must notify the employee of the TNC and give the employee the opportunity to contest the finding. If the employee chooses to contest the SSA TNC, he or she must indicate this choice electronically, sign, and date the Notice to Employee of Tentative Nonconfirmation. Human Resources or Student Employment then gives the employee a Referral Letter with specific instructions for how to contact SSA in order to remedy their records. The document is available in English and Spanish. The employee must sign the Referral Letter as well. The employee then has eight federal business days to visit an SSA office with the required documents to initiate the process to prove identity and support the correction of the SSA record. SSA will then take the following steps:
- determine if the Social Security record needs to be updated
- update the Social Security records based on acceptable evidence provided
- verify the authenticity of evidence submitted with the issuing entity
Until the TNC is resolved, even if it takes longer than eight days, the employee must be allowed to keep working and cannot be terminated or have any other employment-related action taken against him or her because of the TNC. E-Verify will inform Human Resources or Student Employment of the case resolution once the employee visits SSA and resolves the issue. If the employee fails to contact SSA within the eight-day contest period, the employee is considered a no show and a Final Nonconfirmation is issued by E-Verify. At this point, ISU will terminate employment.
What are the possible E-Verify responses once a Tentative Nonconfirmation has been contested?
E-Verify will respond with one of the following messages:
- Employment Authorized: This response indicates that employment eligibility is verified.
- SSA Final Nonconfirmation:This indicates that the SSA could not verify the submitted information. ISU will terminate employment with no civil or criminal liability.
- DHS Verification In Process: This response indicates that a noncitizen’s information provided to SSA matches the information contained in SSA records. The case is then referred to DHS for employment eligibility verification. DHS responds to most of these cases within 24 hours, although DHS is permitted up to three federal government workdays to respond.
- DHS Tentative Nonconfirmation: (Photo Tool Non-Match): The photo-matching step occurs when an employee presents a Permanent Resident Card (I-551) or an Employment Authorization Document (I-766) for his or her Form I-9 documentation. This response indicates that Human Resources or Student Employment determined that the photo on the employee’s document does not match the photo supplied by E-Verify. At this point, Human Resources or Student Employment informs the employee of the DHS Tentative Nonconfirmation and give them the option to contest.
- DHS Employment Unauthorized: This response indicates that the employee contacted DHS and is not authorized to work. ISU will terminate employment with no civil or criminal liability
- Review and Update Employee Data: In some cases, SSA will prompt Human Resources or Student Employment to review and update the employee information entered into the Form I-9 and resubmit the case. This means that SSA has determined that there appears to be a discrepancy in the Form I-9 data. This discrepancy may result from any of the following situations:
- Miskeyed information on the Form I-9
- The employee intentionally provided incorrect information on the Form I-9
Do employees continue to work during the verification process?
Yes. As long as the employee can demonstrate that he/she has contacted the Social Security Administration (SSA) and is actively trying to resolve the non-confirmation, ISU may not take any adverse action. This includes firing, suspending, withholding pay or training, or otherwise infringing upon his/her employment. If the employee informs you of his/her attempts to contact SSA, you should document what the employee has done (e.g., date and time of his/her visit to the SSA Office and name(s) of people with whom he/she has spoken). Note, however, that the latest DHS guidance is that employers should not ask the employee for any documentation, to stay clear of discrimination claims. DHS expects that Human Resources or Student Employment will keep checking back with the E-Verify system to see if the matter has been resolved.
ISU will terminate employment with no civil or criminal liability.
Who keeps track of the eight federal workdays?
The E-Verify system keeps up with the eight workday timeline, and will notify Human Resources or Student Employment when the eight days have expired and will in turn notify the department to terminate the employee if nothing has been resolved.