The federal E-Verify system went offline on October 1, 2025, as part of the broader U.S. government shutdown. Without warning, it quietly came back online on the late evening of October 7. Employers and immigration professionals were left guessing until October 9, when U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued an official bulletin confirming that E-Verify had resumed operations. This unexpected downtime and reactivation created a compliance gap for employers who rely on E-Verify to confirm new hires’ work authorization. Fortunately, USCIS has issued temporary flexibilities to help employers catch up and avoid penalties.
What Happened During the Shutdown
- E-Verify, myE-Verify, Self Check, and related tools were inaccessible from October 1 to October 7.
- Employers could not create new cases, resolve Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs), or access customer support.
- Form I-9 requirements remained in effect throughout the shutdown. Employers were still required to complete Section 1 and Section 2 within three business days of an employee’s start date.
E-Verify is Back: What Employer Must Do Now
- Deadline to Catch Up: Employers must create E-Verify cases byTuesday, October 14,for all employees hired while the system was down.
- How to Report Delays: When creating each case, use the hire date from the Form I-9 and select“Other” → “E-Verify Not Available”as the reason for delay.
- TNCs and Referral Dates: For employees with pending TNCs, update the Referral Date Confirmation by:
- Printing a new notice with the updated date, or
- Writing in the new datemanually,or
- Adding six federal business daysto the original referral date.
- Expect higher-than-normal customer support wait times as E-Verify operations normalize.
Temporary Flexibilities Still in Effect
To ease the compliance burden, DHS has extended several policies:
- Thethree-day rulefor E-Verify case creation is suspended for hires affected by the outage.
- Form I-9 deadlines remain unchanged. Employers must complete I-9s within three business days of the employee’s start date.
- Employers usingDHS-authorized remote I-9 proceduresmay continue doing so, provided they remain enrolled and in good standing with E-Verify.
- Employees withTNCswill not be penalized for delays caused by the outage. The downtime does not count against resolution timelines.
- Federal contractorsshould consult their contracting officers for updated guidance on compliance deadlines.
- Employers must not take adverse action against employees whose cases are in interim status due to the outage.
Best Practices for Employers
- Continue completing Form I-9s on time for all new hires.
- Document all hiring activity during the outage, including attempts to comply with E-Verify once it resumed.
- Avoid delaying start dates or taking action against employees due to unresolved E-Verify cases.
- Insert a memo to the employee record, explaining the reason for the delay in E-Verify submission.
- Example:
Subject: Delayed E-Verify Case Submission Due to Government Shutdown
Due to the temporary shutdown of the federal government, the E-Verify system was unavailable from October 1, 2025, to October 7, 2025. As a result, we were unable to submit the E-Verify case for the employee within the standard timeframe following the date of hire.
Once the E-Verify system was restored, we promptly submitted the case. This delay was solely due to the system outage and not due to any action or inaction on the part of the employer or employee.
This memo is being placed in the employee’s file to document the reason for the delayed submission and to ensure compliance with E-Verify program guidelines during periods of system unavailability.
Prepared by: Name, Title, Date
- Example:
- Monitor the official E-Verify website and USCIS bulletins for further updates.
