E-Verify to Integrate Naturalization and Border Inspection Data

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced improvements to the E-Verify employment authorization program that will reduce an already low mismatch rate, while also streamlining and increasing the effectiveness of the overall program. The “improvements” will focus on decreasing mismatch rates for Naturalized Citizens.

Starting May 5, 2008 the E-Verify system will include naturalization data, which will help instantly confirm the citizenship status of naturalized U.S. citizens hired by E-Verify employers. Naturalized citizens who have not yet updated their records with the Social Security Administration (SSA) are the largest category of work-authorized persons who initially face an SSA mismatch in E-Verify. Additionally, a naturalized citizen who receives a citizenship mismatch with SSA can call USCIS directly to resolve the issue.

E-Verify also will include real time arrival data from the Integrated Border Inspection System. This additional data source will reduce the number of immigration status related mismatches for newly arriving workers who have entered the country legally. USCIS also plans to initiate citizenship status records information sharing with SSA to further help prevent tentative nonconfirmations from occurring.

More than 64,000 employers participate in E-Verify with approximately 1,000 new enrollments weekly. The Web-based system allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly-hired employees.