Page 3 of 13 E-Verify MOU for Employers | Revision Date 06/01/13
violation of section 274A(a)(1)(A); and (5) no E-Verify participant is civilly or
criminally liable under any law for any action taken in good faith based on
information provided through the E-Verify.
b. DHS reserves the right to conduct Form I-9 compliance inspections, as well as
any other enforcement or compliance activity authorized by law, including site
visits, to ensure proper use of E-Verify.
9. The Employer is strictly prohibited from creating an E-Verify case before the employee
has been hired, meaning that a firm offer of employment was extended and accepted
and Form I-9 was completed. The Employer agrees to create an E-Verify case for new
employees within three Employer business days after each employee has been hired
(after both Sections 1 and 2 of Form I-9 have been completed), and to complete as many
steps of the E-Verify process as are necessary according to the E-Verify User Manual. If
E-Verify is temporarily unavailable, the three-day time period will be extended until it is
again operational in order to accommodate the Employer's attempting, in good faith, to
make inquiries during the period of unavailability.
10. The Employer agrees not to use E-Verify for pre-employment screening of job
applicants, in support of any unlawful employment practice, or for any other use that this
MOU or the E-Verify User Manual does not authorize.
11. The Employer must use E-Verify for all new employees. The Employer will not verify
selectively and will not verify employees hired before the effective date of this MOU.
Employers who are Federal contractors may qualify for exceptions to this requirement as
described in Article II.B of this MOU.
12. The Employer agrees to follow appropriate procedures (see Article III below)
regarding tentative nonconfirmations. The Employer must promptly notify employees in
private of the finding and provide them with the notice and letter containing information
specific to the employee’s E-Verify case. The Employer agrees to provide both the
English and the translated notice and letter for employees with limited English proficiency
to employees. The Employer agrees to provide written referral instructions to employees
and instruct affected employees to bring the English copy of the letter to the SSA. The
Employer must allow employees to contest the finding, and not take adverse action
against employees if they choose to contest the finding, while their case is still pending.
Further, when employees contest a tentative nonconfirmation based upon a photo
mismatch, the Employer must take additional steps (see Article III.B. below) to contact
DHS with information necessary to resolve the challenge.
13. The Employer agrees not to take any adverse action against an employee based
upon the employee's perceived employment eligibility status while SSA or DHS is
processing the verification request unless the Employer obtains knowledge (as defined in
8 C.F.R. § 274a.1(l)) that the employee is not work authorized. The Employer
understands that an initial inability of the SSA or DHS automated verification system to
verify work authorization, a tentative nonconfirmation, a case in continuance (indicating
the need for additional time for the government to resolve a case), or the finding of a
photo mismatch, does not establish, and should not be interpreted as, evidence that the
employee is not work authorized. In any of such cases, the employee must be provided a
full and fair opportunity to contest the finding, and if he or she does so, the employee
may not be terminated or suffer any adverse employment consequences based upon the
employee’s perceived employment eligibility status (including denying, reducing, or
extending work hours, delaying or preventing training, requiring an employee to work in
poorer conditions, withholding pay, refusing to assign the employee to a Federal contract
or other assignment, or otherwise assuming that he or she is unauthorized to work) until