Overview: E-Verify is an Internet-based program run the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with Social Security Administration. According to the USCIS website, more than 345,000 employers have enrolled in E-Verify program on March 2012. Over 1,400 companies enroll in the program every week.

Click here to search the E-Verify company list.

E-Verify program compares information from an employee's Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 to data from U.S. government records. If the information matches, that employee is eligible to work in the United States. If there is a mismatch, E-Verify alerts the employer and the employee is allowed to work while he or she resolves the problem; they must contact the appropriate agency to resolve the mismatch within eight federal government work days from the referral date.

E-Verify program is free. Neither employers nor employees have to pay to use the system.

Mandated use: Participation in E-Verify program is voluntary for most businesses, some companies may be required by state law or federal regulation to use E-Verify. For example, most employers in Arizona and Mississippi are required to use E-Verify. E-Verify is also mandatory for employers with federal contracts or subcontracts that contain the Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify clause.

E-Verify enrollment is also mandatory for employers who want to extend OPT for their F1 visa employees. (F-1 students who receive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees included on the STEM Designated Degree Program List, are employed by employers enrolled in E-Verify, and who have received an initial grant of post-completion OPT related to such a degree, may apply for a 17-month extension. )

Fiscal Year 2011 Statistics:: According to USCIS web site, in fiscal year 2011, most employees are automatically confirmed as work authorized by E-Verify system. 98.3 percent of employees are automatically confirmed as authorized to work ("work authorized") either instantly or within 24 hours, requiring no employee or employer action. 1.7 percent of employees receive initial system mismatches.

Of the 1.7% of employees who receive initial system mismatches. 0.28 percent are later confirmed as work authorized after contesting and resolving the mismatch. 1.39 percent are not found work authorized.

Of the 1.39% of employees not found to be work authorized. 1.13 percent of employees who receive initial mismatches do not contest the mismatch either because they do not choose to or are unaware of the opportunity to contest and as a result are not found work authorized. The E-Verify program closely monitors uncontested mismatches and actively reaches out to employers to ensure that they are aware of their responsibility to inform employees of the right to contest. 0.01 percent of employees who receive initial mismatches contest the mismatch and are not found work authorized. 0.24 percent of employees with initial mismatches are unresolved because the employer closed the cases as "self-terminated" or as requiring further action by either the employer or employee at the end of FY11.

Click here to search the E-Verify company list.