Federal Contractors Q&As

Your organization will be required to use E-Verify if the terms and conditions of your grant contain the FAR E-Verify clause. Review your grant for the FAR E-Verify clause and check with your contracting official if you have any questions.

E-Verify cases may only be created using information from your Human Resources database if that information was taken directly from the employee’s Form I-9.

No. The E-Verify MOU only requires employers to “display the notices supplied by DHS in a prominent place that is clearly visible to prospective employees and all employees who are to be verified through the system.” To comply with this requirement, employers should display the E‑Verify Participation and Right to Work posters in a prominent location where both prospective and existing employees can see it. These notices can also be found in the Essential Resources section of E-Verify.

No. The prime contractor is responsible for ensuring that all subcontractors at every tier incorporate the full FAR 52.222-54 clause in its subcontracts.

Although prime contractors may act as the E-Verify employer agent, subcontractors are not limited to this relationship. Subcontractors may choose another E-Verify employer agent to use for E-Verify.

The E-Verify MOU states that an account may be terminated at any time upon 30 days prior written notice. Under certain circumstances, an E-Verify account may be closed prior to the end of the 30-day period. Those circumstances include:

• The company no longer exists;
• Closing the account is necessary to protect the account from unauthorized access;
• A company has duplicate or unnecessary accounts;
• A company needs to re-enroll in order to change its E-Verify access method; or
• E-Verify determines that closing an account before 30 days is necessary based on the requirements of law or policy.

To request that your E-Verify account be closed prior to 30 days from your notice of termination based on one of these circumstances, your written request for termination must:

• Request that your E-Verify account be closed prior to 30 days from your notice of termination;
• Explain why your account should be closed prior to 30 days from your notice of termination, referencing and explaining in detail one or more of the circumstances above; and
• Specify the date you would like your E-Verify account closed.

Closing E-Verify accounts prior to the end of the 30-day period is at the discretion of E-Verify.

Yes. During the E-Verify enrollment process, the subcontractor has the same verification options as the prime contractor with a federal contract that contains the FAR E-Verify clause. Prime and subcontractors can choose to verify:

• All new hires and all existing non-exempt employees assigned to a federal contract, or 
• Their entire non-exempt workforce (all new hires and all existing employees throughout the entire company).

No. E-Verify does not distinguish between a prime contractor and a subcontractor. It only differentiates between federal contractors with contracts that do or do not contain the FAR E-Verify clause. For more information on subcontractors, see the subcontracting provision at 52.222-54(e) of the E-Verify clause and the E-Verify Supplemental Guide for Federal Contractors.

Yes. Most federal contractors are required to use E-Verify for all newly hired employees, regardless of whether the employees are assigned to a federal contract, and all existing employees assigned to the contract. However, certain organizations with applicable federal contracts containing the FAR E-Verify clause qualify for an exception that requires them to use E-Verify, but permits them to choose to use E-Verify only to verify the employment authorization of employees assigned to a covered federal contract (both new hires and existing employees, but only new hires and existing employees assigned to the contract). These organizations include:

• Institutions of higher education (as defined at 20 U.S.C. 1001(a))
• State and local governments
• Governments of federally recognized Native American tribes
• Sureties performing under a takeover agreement entered into with a federal agency pursuant to a performance bond

For specific instructions on organizations that qualify for exceptions, see the E-Verify Supplemental Guide for Federal Contractors.

The E-Verify federal contractor rule requires federal prime contractors with federal contracts containing the FAR E-Verify clause to require their subcontractors to use E-Verify when:

• The prime contract includes the FAR E-Verify clause.
• The subcontract is for commercial or noncommercial services or construction.
• The subcontract has a value of more than $3,500.
• The subcontract includes work performed in the United States.

Subcontractors who are only suppliers, however, are not subject to the E-Verify federal contractor rule.

The prime contractor should provide general oversight to subcontractors to ensure they meet the E-Verify requirement. A prime contractor may be subject to fines and penalties if it knowingly continues to work with a subcontractor who is in violation of the E-Verify requirement. The prime contractor must ensure that all covered subcontracts at every tier incorporate the FAR E-Verify clause at FAR 52.222-54. For more information on subcontractors, see the E-Verify Supplemental Guide for Federal Contractors.

No, The E-Verify federal contractor rule applies only to employees working in the United States, which includes the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).

Employees are only considered assigned to a contract if they are directly performing work under the federal contract. An employee is not considered to be directly performing work under the contract if the employee normally performs support work, such as indirect or overhead functions, and does not perform any substantial duties under the contract. E-Verify is not able to make this determination for you. For more information, consult your legal counsel and/or contracting official.

To enroll in E-Verify, you must provide your company’s basic contact information and agree to follow the rules of the program. After enrolling, you must sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that provides the terms of agreement between your company and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Go to Enroll in E-Verify to begin the enrollment process.

Once you have enrolled, E-Verify will review your information and activate your account. After the account is activated, you will receive an e-mail with your login instructions, user ID and password.

For more information on how to enroll, see the E-Verify Supplemental Guide for Federal Contractors.

E-Verify program administrators and corporate administrators can get proof of participation by printing a copy of their company information page.

1. Log into E-Verify.
2. From Company, select Company Profile. E-Verify will display the company name, ID number, address, etc.
3. Print this page and use it as proof of enrollment in E-Verify.

Although you are not required to join E-Verify, you may do so. E-Verify is the best means available to verify the employment authorization of employees. However, if you enroll prior to receiving a federal contract that contains the FAR E-Verify clause, you may only verify new hires and will not be allowed to verify existing employees.

When you enroll, you will need to indicate the category that best describes your organization. If you are a federal contractor that does not have a contract that contains the FAR E-Verify clause, you should select ‘Federal contractor without FAR E-Verify clause’.

Workers assigned to a federal contract that contains the FAR E-Verify clause must be verified in E-Verify. The staffing agency must verify the employment authorization of workers it places in a pool to be referred to an assignment.

You must ensure that the staffing agency verified your temporary workers in E-Verify by contacting the staffing agency. Staffing agencies can also provide proof of enrollment in E‑Verify to employers by printing the screen on their Company Information page in E-Verify.

If you prefer to verify temporary employees yourself, you may choose to enroll as an E-Verify Employer Agent (See E-Verify Employer Agents Section below). This will allow you to create E-Verify cases for temporary employees that the agency provides. You will need access to the employee’s Form I-9 in order to enter the employee’s information into E-Verify.

If you are not currently enrolled in E-Verify, during enrollment, you must designate every hiring site at which you will:

1. Hire new employees, and/or
2. Verify existing employees.

If you are already enrolled in E-Verify and your company has been using E-Verify at only certain hiring sites, you must now designate all of your company’s hiring sites. You must also update your ‘Site Verification’ page as discussed in the E-Verify User Manual for Employers.

Yes. Subject to certain exceptions or exemptions that apply to some organizations and employees, you may choose to verify your entire existing workforce. For specific information on Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements for this option, as well as how to notify DHS of your decision to verify your entire workforce, see the E-Verify Supplemental Guide for Federal Contractors.

If a prime contractor’s federal contract contains the FAR E-Verify clause, the provisions of that clause are applicable to all tiers of covered subcontracts. Consult your prime contractor to provide you with general oversight and let you know if the prime contract and your subcontract are subject to the FAR E-Verify clause. The criteria for including the E-Verify clause in subcontracts is found at paragraph 52.222-54(e) of the E-Verify clause. For more information, consult your legal representative. For information on subcontractors’ E-Verify responsibilities, see the E-Verify Supplemental Guide for Federal Contractors.