Kullman Firm Newsletter


As most E-Verify employers have learned, E-Verify is unavailable due to the government shutdown. But what does that mean for an employer’s hiring practices during this time?

All E-Verify deadlines are suspended during the government shutdown. The three-day rule which requires that the employer open an E-Verify case within three days of a new employee’s first date of employment is suspended. In addition, if the employer had any pending Tentative Nonconfirmations (“TNC”) at the time of the shutdown, the deadline to resolve those has been suspended and no adverse action may be taken against the employee whose TNC is pending.

Employers in states with mandatory E-Verify requirements may continue to hire new employees during the government shutdown.

The government shutdown does not change an employer’s obligation to properly complete a Form I-9 for each new hire within the time periods set forth in the regulations (Section 1 by the first day of work for pay and Section 3 by the third day of work for pay). E-Verify employers should complete the Form I-9 for each new hire and then retain those I-9s for processing with E-Verify when the government shutdown is over.

When the government reopens, E-Verify should send out a notification to E-Verify employers regarding the deadlines and how employers are to proceed. After previous shutdowns, E-Verify has allowed employers three days from the reopening of the government to process all cases that it was not able to process during the shutdown. However, depending on the length of this shutdown, E-Verify may allow a longer period of time. In the past, E-Verify has instructed employers to choose “Other” as the reason the E-Verify case is being processed out of time and then type in “government shutdown” as the reason.

The Kullman Firm will issue an update when the shutdown has ended and E-Verify has issued its guidance. Please contact the Kullman Firm attorney with whom you normally work, or Patricia A. Bollman, our Immigration Law Specialist at pab@kullmanlaw.com, should you have any questions or require additional information concerning this issue.