E-Verify confirms an employee's eligibility to work in the U.S. by comparing information from Form I-9 against records held by the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. Depending on your account's setup, E-Verify may be available as its own standalone search, automatically as part of completing an Electronic I-9, or both. This article covers ordering and managing an E-Verify search from the HR Module.
Ordering E-Verify
E-Verify is ordered the same way as any other search, from New Order > Standard Order. You can add it to your order in one of two ways:
As part of a package that already includes E-Verify.
As an individual search, alongside any other searches you're ordering, from the Individual Searches list at the Select Package step.
Once E-Verify is added, move through Subject Info as you would for any order. At the Configure step, an E-Verify card appears with its own required fields, grouped into two sections:
Employee Information and Verification — Hire Date, Citizenship Status, Employee Signed Date, Maiden Name (if applicable), Alien Number, I-94 Number, and Work Authorization Expiration Date (as applicable based on citizenship status).
Employer Review and Verification — complete List A, or both List B and List C. Selecting certain document types (for example, a driver's license) will prompt additional fields specific to that document, such as issuing state.
Only these basic fields are required for a stand-alone E-Verify order — the preparer/translator and employer certification fields required for a full I-9 aren't needed here.
Tracking your E-Verify search
Where you track a submitted E-Verify search depends on how it was ordered:
Ordered as a standalone search, it's tracked like any other background check report — it appears under In Progress until a result comes back, then moves to Completed. You'll be notified according to your own notification settings (for example, an email when the report completes, or simply seeing it land in your Completed folder).
Triggered automatically from an Electronic I-9, it's tracked within the I-9 tab under the E-Verify status, alongside your other I-9 records.
If the case comes back with no issues, the search resolves on its own with no further action needed. If more information is required — whether for photo matching or a Tentative Nonconfirmation — you'll see this communicated through notes on the search itself, covered below.
Photo matching
For certain documents, E-Verify includes a photo matching step: you're asked to confirm that the photo displayed in E-Verify matches the photo on the document the employee presented. Photo matching activates automatically when the employee presents one of the following:
Form I-551 (Permanent Resident Card)
Form I-766 (Employment Authorization Document)
A U.S. passport or passport card
Other photo documents, such as a driver's license, don't trigger photo matching. When photo matching is required, you'll see this reflected as a note on the search: a system note logs that photo matching is in progress, followed by a note asking you to verify the photo, with a link to view it. If no photo is available on the document, the case will either skip photo matching automatically or note that no photo is available in its place.
A reminder: the photo displayed in E-Verify should be compared against the photo on the document the employee presented — not against the employee in person.
Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC)
If information doesn't immediately match government records, the case may return a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC), which can come from either DHS or SSA:
A DHS TNC means DHS couldn't verify employment eligibility from its records; the employee is directed to contact DHS to resolve the discrepancy.
An SSA TNC means the information didn't match SSA records.
A TNC can also result from a photo mismatch — if the photo displayed in E-Verify doesn't match the employee's document, the employee must be given the chance to contest it.
An employee who receives a TNC must be given the opportunity to contest it. Important: you may not take an adverse action against an employee while a case shows an interim result — a TNC on its own is not grounds for termination.
You won't see a search labeled "TNC" directly — the search itself will still show as In Progress. The FAN Letter will be made available as a document directly on that search for you to download. Your CRA's process for notifying you may vary, but a common approach is for them to send you a note on the search explaining the situation and what's needed from you.
If you're notified, you'll typically be asked to do one of two things:
If the information entered was incorrect (for example, a wrong driver's license number), place a new order with the corrected information. Don't reorder on your own before confirming with your CRA first — the original case has to be marked invalid on their end, or you'll get a duplicate case error since the original case is still open with E-Verify.
If the information was correct, confirm whether the employee intends to contest the TNC and whether they're still employed. This step has to be completed within 10 federal working days.
If you haven't heard from your CRA and want an update, use Status Request on the search to reach them directly.
If a document copy is required to resolve a contested TNC (for example, following a photo mismatch), the copy is submitted electronically or mailed to DHS at the employer's expense.