If you are an employer that is obligated to or has chosen to use E-Verify, then you have probably already received this message from the E-Verify website: “NOTICE: Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed. This website was last updated on December 21, 2018, and will not be updated until after funding is enacted. As such, information on this website may not be up to date. Transactions submitted via this website might not be processed, and we will not be able to respond to inquiries until after appropriations are enacted.”

But what does this notice actually mean for your business? As long as the shutdown remains in effect, you will not be able to:

• enroll in the program

• access your E-Verify account

• create a case in E-Verify

• take action on a case you previously submitted

• add, delete, or edit accounts

• terminate accounts

• run reports

Also during this time, your employees will not be able to resolve any E-Verify Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs) they received prior to the shutdown. Indeed, the number of days E-Verify is not available will not count toward the days employees have to begin the process of resolving their TNCs.

So, what should you do with your new hires given that you cannot create a case in E-Verify within the three business days required? 

• Make sure you are still completing I-9s in a timely manner. The shutdown does not affect the three business days you have to obtain and verify documentation in Section 2 or any other I-9 obligations.

• Do not take any adverse action against employees who have open cases in E-Verify.

• Create a list of all employees hired during the time period E-Verify has been inoperable, and make a notation that the reason the employees were not run through E-Verify is due to the government shutdown.

• Take the time now to establish a system for running these employees through E-Verify once the system becomes available. Absent other instructions from USCIS, you will most likely be choosing the “other” drop-down field when asked why the case was not created within three days and typing in “government shutdown.”

• If you’re a federal contractor with a Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify clause, think about getting confirmation in writing from your contracting officer that the E-Verify deadlines are extended. Or, if the officer is not available, at least create documentation that you have inquired about this.