ATTENTION E-VERIFY USERS – USCIS TO BEGIN DISPOSING OF TIME SENSITIVE RECORDS
By: Linda J. Armstrong, Butzel Long
Employers who use E-verify should know the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that on January 1, 2015, they will dispose of E-verify records that are over 10 years old. Please see the attached USCIS Fact Sheet for more details.
US employers are required by law to make sure their employees are authorized to work in the United States by completing and maintaining an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (Form I-9) for each person. In addition to the I-9, many employers also utilize the USCIS operated internet based system, E-verify, which is used in addition to the I-9 and provides employers with confirmation of an employee’s eligibility to work in the US. E-verify is a voluntary program for most employers, but mandatory for some employers, such as employers with federal contracts. MDOT requires, as a condition of each contract or subcontract for construction, maintenance, or engineering services, that the prequalified contractor or prequalified subcontractor agree to use the E-Verify system to verify that all persons hired during the contract term by the contractor or subcontractor are legally present and authorized to work in the United States.
E-verify electronically compares the information on an employee’s I-9 with records from the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and the US Department of State in order verify the identity and employment eligibility of each employee. Employers are encouraged to print out the E-verify case result for each person and keep it with each person’s I-9.
Beginning on January 1, 2015, the USCIS will dispose of E-verify reports that over 10 years old – so employers will not have access to E-verify cases that were created before December 31, 2004. If you use E-verify and did not previously print out the individual case detail reports for your employees, you should download the newly created E-verify Historic Records Report and retain the Report with your I-9’s so you will have evidence of the E-verify determination relating to each employee.
The Historic Records Report is only available until December 31, 2014 so your immediate action is required. Please see the attached USCIS Fact Sheet for more details regarding downloading the Historic Records Report. Please also see:
Please contact Linda Armstrong of Butzel Long at 313-983-7476 with any questions you may have regarding this issue.
