USCIS Resumes E-Verify Operations During Ongoing Federal Government Shutdown

As the US federal government shutdown enters its ninth day, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that the E-Verify system is now operational. Employers that participate in E-Verify and were unable to create or process cases while the system was unavailable must now take action to ensure compliance with E-Verify requirements.

CREATING E-VERIFY CASES FOR RECENT HIRES

Employers must create an E-Verify case by Tuesday, October 14, for each employee hired while E-Verify was unavailable.

When creating each case:

• Enter the hire date exactly as it appears on the employee’s Form I-9.
• If the case could not be created within three business days of the employee beginning work for pay because E-Verify was unavailable, the system will prompt you to select a reason for the delay.
• Select “Other” from the dropdown menu.
• Enter “E-Verify not available” in the “Reason for Delay” text box.
• The days during which E-Verify was unavailable will not count toward the standard three-business-day deadline to create a case.

Employers should review their records carefully to identify any employees hired during the system outage and ensure cases are created for all affected new hires by the October 14 deadline.

HANDLING TENTATIVE NONCONFIRMATIONS (MISMATCHES)

If an employee received a Tentative Nonconfirmation—also known as a mismatch—and notified the employer of their intention to contest it, the employer must update the employee’s Referral Date Confirmation to reflect a new date by which the employee must contact the Social Security Administration or US Department of Homeland Security to begin resolving the mismatch.

USCIS has outlined three acceptable options for providing a revised date to affected employees:

• Preferred method: Log into E-Verify, select the employee’s case, and use the “Print Confirmation” button to print a new Referral Date Confirmation notice, which will automatically include the new deadline.
• Alternative method: Log into E-Verify, locate the employee’s case, note the updated referral date displayed in the system, and manually write the new date on the previously issued notice.
• Manual calculation method: Add six federal business days to the date printed on the original Referral Date Confirmation notice. Federal business days are Monday through Friday and do not include federal holidays.

For mismatch cases referred on or after October 8, 2025, employers should not add additional days as the system will have already adjusted the timing appropriately.

FEDERAL CONTRACTOR OBLIGATIONS

During the E-Verify outage, federal contractors were unable to enroll or use the system as required under the E-Verify Federal Contractor Rule. USCIS has clarified that any calendar days when E-Verify was unavailable do not count toward federal contractor compliance deadlines.

Contractors should contact their contracting officer for additional guidance on any adjustments to contract-specific deadlines or requirements.

EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES

Employees who were unable to contact SSA or DHS during the E-Verify outage will also receive additional time to take action.

If your Referral Date Confirmation indicated you must act by October 1, 2025 or later, you may:

• Request that your employer print a new notice reflecting your updated deadline;
• Ask your employer to write the new date on your existing notice after confirming it in E-Verify; or
• Add six federal business days to the date printed on your current notice.

Employees with E-Verify+ cases should log back into their E-Verify+ account and review the “What’s Next” page, which will display an updated action date.

RECOMMENDED EMPLOYER ACTIONS

• Log into E-Verify as soon as possible to confirm access and system functionality.
• Identify all employees hired while E-Verify was unavailable and create cases by the October 14 deadline.
• Review any open mismatch cases and take one of the approved steps to update the Referral Date Confirmation.
• Retain documentation of all actions taken in response to the outage and resumption of E-Verify for compliance purposes.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Employers and employees can review official instructions on E-Verify’s How to Process a Mismatch page.

HOW WE CAN HELP

We are closely monitoring agency announcements and will provide updates as the situation evolves. Please reach out to your firm contacts with any questions regarding how the 2025 US government shutdown affects your organization.

Refer to our global employment and immigration page for more information on how our cross-border team of labor, employment, immigration, and benefits lawyers counsels companies on the issues affecting the global workforce.  

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