Federal Government Shutdown: E-Verify Outage

Background

The federal government has shut down after weeks of unsuccessfully trying to negotiate the federal budget. The shutdown began at midnight on January 20th, and as of Monday, January 22nd, E-Verify services are unavailable due to the lapse in funding.

What to Expect

A communication from USCIS indicated the following:

E-Verify is not available due to a lapse in Department of Homeland Security appropriations. While E-Verify is unavailable, employers will not be able to access their E-Verify accounts or:

•  Enroll in E-Verify
•  Create E-Verify cases
•  View or take action on any case
•  Add, delete or edit any user account
•  Reset passwords
•  Edit company information
•  Terminate accounts
•  Run reports or view any information about an account.

Customer Support

E-Verify Customer Support and related services are also closed. As a result:

We will not be able to answer your calls or respond to your emails;

• Employees will be unable to resolve E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs);
•  E-Verify webinars and training sessions are cancelled and will be rescheduled; and
•  Self Check and myE-Verify will not be available.

New Temporary Policies

We understand that E-Verify’s unavailability may have a significant impact on employer operations. We have implemented the following policies to minimize the burden on both employers and employees:

The “three-day rule” is suspended for E-Verify cases affected by the unavailability of E-Verify. We will provide additional guidance regarding this deadline once we reopen. This does not affect Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, requirements. Employers must still complete Form I-9 no later than the third business day after an employee starts work for pay, and comply with all other Form I-9 requirements.

The time period during which employees may resolve TNCs will be extended. The number of days E-Verify is not available will not count towards the days employees have to begin resolving their TNCs. We will provide additional guidance regarding these deadlines once we reopen.

For federal contractors covered by the E-Verify federal contractor rule, please contact your contracting officer to inquire about extending federal contractor deadlines.

Employers may not take any adverse action against an employee because the E-Verify case is in an interim case status, including while the employee’s case is in an extended interim case status due to the unavailability of E-Verify.

Resources

Find all essential resources at USCIS.gov/E-Verify/publications. Read the E-Verify User Manual for more information on interim case statuses.

Next Steps

Congress is working to implement a stopgap extension to reinstate federal spending. At this time, we believe they will vote on the temporary measure on Monday, January 22nd. If they are unable to come to an agreement, the federal government will remain closed until an agreement is reached.

Please make sure that during this outage you are continuing to utilize your E-Verify Event packet and simply not ‘deleting’ the verification task, this will allow you to continue forward with creating your employee record in Web Pay.  Once the site is back up Paylocity will be identifying all clients with impacted new hires requiring to be E-Verified and will be communicating with employers so that they may be submitted.

Paylocity will continue to monitor the shutdown closely and will provide updates as needed. Thank you for choosing Paylocity as your payroll tax partner. Should you have any questions please contact your Paylocity Account Manager. 

This information is provided as a courtesy, may change and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney or Advisor.