September 10, 2013 –
Independent studies focus on accuracy and satisfaction with the E-Verify program

As most employers are aware, E-Verify is a free Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration that provides employers with the ability to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their employees, regardless of citizenship.

E-Verify has been promoted by USCIS and Immigration and Customs enforcement for the past several years. Past criticisms by employers have included inaccuracy, untimeliness of results and the administrative overhead cost to participate. The USCIS has attempted to respond to such criticisms in the past by reporting the results of various studies as well as other anecdotal evidence.

With E-Verify likely changing from a voluntary to a mandatory program under any final version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, USCIS has recently released summaries of the results of four historical studies evaluating the E-Verify program along with discussions about some of the initiatives USCIS has undertaken to improve the system. The independent studies, conducted by Westat Corporation, a social science research firm, focused on program accuracy, customer satisfaction, the relationship between E-Verify Employer Agents and their employer clients, and a case study of the mandatory E-Verify program in Arizona.

USCIS’s publication of summaries of the studies may be found at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.

Highlights of the “Key Findings” from the four reports include:

• A 2012 customer Satisfaction Survey was consistent with the historical ninety-four percent rate of employer satisfaction with E-Verify as an effective and accurate tool for employment verification;

• The percentage of workers found to be employment authorized who initially received a Tentative Non-confirmation (TNC) declined from 0.7 percent in 2005 to 0.3 percent in 2010; been;

• Approximately 94% of Final Non-Confirmations (FNC) were accurately issued to unauthorized workers. The top four problems leading to the 6 % erroneous FNC issuance were:
  • Inability to confirm citizenship status;
  • Social Security Administration (SSA) name mismatch;
  • Inability to locate workers’ form I-94;
  • USCIS name mismatch

• USCIS improvements include:
  • Direct email notification of TNCs and other information to workers (the new I-9 Form allows the worker to enter an email address and if that field is collected and entered into E-Verify the worker will receive an electronic TNC notification);
  • Employees with a citizenship TNC can call USCIS on a toll-free number to resolve the case over the phone;
  • Creation of a Self-Check tool and Tips to Prevent a Tentative Non-confirmation for employees to use prior to the initiation of employment eligibility verification by employers;
  • Capture of additional data on the newly revised Form I-9, such as foreign passport number and country of issuance, in an effort to better locate I-94s;
  • Revision to Form I-9 providing more space to enter complex surnames, creation of helper text in E-Verify where names are entered, and initiation of a study to align USCIS and SSA name capture; and
  • Redesign of E-Verify Web Interface with improved navigational tools such as drop down boxes to aid understanding and minimize input errors.

To build upon the prior study reports of some employer non-compliance with E-Verify procedures including those regarding notification of a TNC to the worker, USCIS has established numerous training materials, tutorials, webinars and on-screen help features, published the E-Verify Self Assessment Guide, added a comprehensive set of Questions and Answers to the E-Verify website, created Form I-9 Central with expanded guidance regarding completion of Form I-9, expanded it E-Verify Monitoring and Compliance Branch efforts including use of behavioral algorithms to detect patterns of potential program misuse and extensive use of compliance assistance tools such as emails, telephone calls, desk reviews and site visits (65,000 telephone calls, letters and emails in 2012).

Many employers use agents called “E-Verify Employer Agents” (“EEAs”) to perform E-Verify functions. The 2011 study reported mutual satisfaction by both EEAs and client employers with E-Verify. The most frequent challenge reported by EEAs was client employers submission of Form I-9 paperwork or data to a Web interface within three days, entering workers only after they were hired, entering all new hires and clearly communicating the TNC process to workers. USCIS has developed two online resources for the EEA community: The E-Verify Employer Agent User Manual and the quick Reference Guide for Clients of E-Verify Employer Agents.

Gunster’s immigration law practice members will continue to monitor developments relating to the mandatory use of E-Verify, increased penalties for non-compliance with employment eligibility verification and best practices for maintaining a legal workforce encouraged by government enforcement agencies.