E-Verify Records Disposal Is Imminent, System Enhancements Made

Author: Rena Pirsos, XpertHR Legal Editor

November 13, 2015

On January 1, 2016, E-Verify must delete transaction records that are more than 10 years old, in accordance with the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) retention and disposal schedule. An employer that used E-Verify before December 31, 2005, that wants to keep a record of its case information should download and save the new Historic Records Report by December 31, 2015, which is the last day the report will be available. The report contains information about each E-Verify case that will be purged.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recommends that employers annotate Forms I-9 with the E-Verify case verification number. Also, once an employer obtains the Historic Records Report, it should retain the document with the corresponding Forms I-9.

Employers may access useful information on the Historic Records Report in the form of Questions and Answers. Also available are Instructions to Download Historic Records Reports in E-Verify.

USCIS is required to dispose of these records to minimize security and privacy risks associated with the government's retention of personal identifiable information. However, USCIS may retain certain E-Verify records, such as those in connection with an ongoing government investigation, prosecution or litigation.

In other news, E-Verify recently released three system enhancements of interest to employers:

  • TPS Auto Extension. This is an upgrade intended to make it easier for E-Verify to confirm that the employment authorization of an employee with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was automatically extended. E-verify employers can now expect quicker responses.
  • Case Details Page Web Redesign. This redesign removes unnecessary data fields leaving on display only the relevant case information, and only one page is printed.
  • Further Action Notice and Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) Emails Updated. E-Verify Further Action Notices and TNC employee emails now include a link to the myE-Verify Case Tracker. This is a free, online tool that allows workers to easily track the status of their E-Verify case.