E-Verify Overview and Enrollment

Purpose

E-Verify is a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) web service that lets enrolled employers confirm a new hire's eligibility to work in the United States. It compares the employee's Form I-9 information against SSA and DHS records. UZIO offers a native E-Verify integration so you can create, submit, and manage E-Verify cases end to end inside UZIO. UZIO connects to E-Verify through the E-Verify Web Service as your Employer Agent, so you never leave the platform.

This article explains what E-Verify is, how a case moves through it, which states require E-Verify, and how to enroll through UZIO.

Who can do this: Any employer user with access to the employee's I-9 document can create and work E-Verify cases (typically the Employer Admin). Enrollment and hiring-site changes are handled by UZIO Support on your behalf.

Terms you will meet in these articles

What E-Verify is

E-Verify electronically matches the identity and employment-eligibility information from an employee's Form I-9 against records held by DHS and SSA. Enrolled employers use it to confirm that a new hire is authorized to work in the United States.

How E-Verify works

1. The employer submits the new hire's information no later than the third business day after the employee's first day of work for pay.
2. E-Verify validates the I-9 data against SSA and DHS databases. Most cases return a result within seconds. A case that needs manual review can take up to three (3) federal working days.
3. If verification succeeds, the case returns Employment Authorized.
4. If E-Verify cannot immediately confirm eligibility, the case returns a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC). A TNC does not mean the employee is unauthorized.
5. On a TNC, two different federal clocks start. They are commonly confused, so keep them apart:

1. If the agency resolves the mismatch, the case moves to Employment Authorized.
2. If the employee chooses not to contest, or does not contact the agency within the referral deadline, the case receives a Final Nonconfirmation (FNC).

Federal working days are Monday to Friday, excluding federal holidays.

States that require E-Verify

Requirements change, so confirm your obligations with legal counsel or the E-Verify platform. As captured, E-Verify is mandatory as follows.

All employers (with some small-business exceptions), regardless of physical office or remote work:

Mandatory for most public (government) employers: Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia.

The UZIO native model: Employer Agent via Web Services

When you opt into UZIO's E-Verify Employer Agent service, UZIO acts as your E-Verify Employer Agent (Web Service). UZIO submits cases through the E-Verify Web Service API but does not complete Form I-9 on your behalf. You remain responsible for the I-9 and for hiring-site decisions. The integration works with the in-app Form I-9 workflow to support compliant case creation, real-time status tracking, and full case visibility.

Enroll in E-Verify through UZIO

Enrollment is a support-managed process. You request it, and UZIO handles the E-Verify-side setup.

1. Email support@uzio.com to request that the E-Verify module be enabled for your company.
2. UZIO enrolls your company in E-Verify (if you are not already enrolled) using your EIN and company details.
3. E-Verify sends you a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Sign the MOU within 2-3 business days.
4. Once the MOU is signed, your enrollment is active and you can begin creating E-Verify cases for new hires (hired on or after your MOU-signed date).

Before your first case. Two setup steps make the first E-Verify case go smoothly:

• Decide who signs Section 2 and set them as the I-9 signatory. See Assigning the I-9 Signatory.
• Make sure the I-9 is one of the documents your new hires receive, either in the self-onboarding Documents step or assigned from the Document Library. See Setting Up Self-Onboarding.

From then on the flow is: the employee completes Section 1, you complete Section 2, UZIO asks whether to create the E-Verify case, and the case moves through the statuses described in Understanding Your E-Verify Case.

Manage E-Verify hiring sites

A hiring site is the location where an employee is hired and where Form I-9 is completed. In UZIO, an E-Verify hiring site corresponds to a UZIO work location.

• If you create all E-Verify cases from your corporate headquarters, designate headquarters as the hiring site.
• If you create cases separately per location, each work location where employees are hired must be added and maintained as its own hiring site in E-Verify.

To manage hiring sites:

1. Decide which UZIO work locations should participate in E-Verify case creation.
2. Make sure each participating location is added as a Work Location in UZIO.
3. Email support@uzio.com to have those work locations added as hiring sites in your E-Verify account. UZIO adds and updates your hiring sites based on your UZIO work locations.
4. When you add a new work location in UZIO and want it to participate in case creation, raise a request at support@uzio.com to add it as a hiring site in E-Verify.

Migrating from another web-service agent

If you previously used E-Verify through a different web-service agent, you must close your existing E-Verify account and re-enroll through UZIO. UZIO will only have access to E-Verify cases created after UZIO is activated as your web-service employer agent. Prior cases are not visible in UZIO.

Common problems

E-Verify says my case can't be created — why?

By far the most common cause is the MOU date. If the employee's hire date is before the date your organization's E-Verify enrollment took effect on the platform, case creation is blocked and you'll see:

"E-Verify cases cannot be created for employees hired before your company enrolled in E-Verify with this platform."

This is not a defect and there is no override. E-Verify is for hires going forward. A hire dated on the MOU date is fine. Only earlier hires are blocked. If you believe the MOU date on your account is wrong, that is fixable; see Still stuck? below.

The other common cause is sequencing: a case cannot exist until Section 2 of the I-9 is signed. See Reviewing and Verifying Form I-9 (Section 2).

Do I have to create a case for every employee?

Whether your organization must enroll in E-Verify at all depends on your federal contracts and the states you hire in. UZIO does not make that determination for you, and neither this article nor the table above is legal advice.

Once you are enrolled, the answer is yes. The E-Verify MOU requires a case for every new hire at a participating hiring site, and selective verification is a program violation. UZIO still asks Yes or No after Section 2 because there are legitimate reasons to create the case later (for example, the employee has applied for a Social Security Number and does not have it yet). Answering No saves Section 2 and leaves the case for you to create from the I-9 record when you are ready. It does not make the case optional.

I haven't received the MOU email from E-Verify

The MOU comes from E-Verify, not from UZIO, so it can land in spam or go to whichever address was given at enrollment. Check there first. If it genuinely hasn't arrived, it can be resent; see Still stuck? below. Signing it is time-sensitive: until the MOU is signed, your enrollment isn't active and no cases can be created.

Which hiring site does UZIO use when it creates cases?

The employer's work location responsible for hiring and Form I-9 oversight. It is added in UZIO as a Work Location and set up by UZIO Support as a hiring site in your E-Verify account. Never the employee's home address, and never UZIO's office.

I added a new work location and cases aren't using it

Adding a Work Location in UZIO does not add it as an E-Verify hiring site. That is a separate, support-managed step. Raise it as a request; see Still stuck? below.

I was already enrolled with another agent — can UZIO see my old cases?

No. You must close the old account and re-enroll through UZIO, and UZIO only has visibility of cases created after it becomes your web-service employer agent. Prior cases stay with the previous agent; export or record anything you need before closing that account.

Can I run E-Verify before an employee starts work?

No. E-Verify cannot be used for pre-employment screening. The offer must be accepted and Form I-9 completed first. Creating a case earlier is a program violation, not just a UZIO restriction.

Still stuck?

Enrollment, the MOU, hiring-site changes, and a wrong MOU-signed date are all handled by UZIO Support. Please reach out to us at support@uzio.com or call +1-571-601-1752. None of these are self-service, so this is the right place to go rather than a last resort.

Send:

• Your company's legal name and EIN.
• For a missing MOU: the email address the MOU should have gone to.
• For hiring sites: the work location(s) you want added, exactly as they appear in UZIO.
• For a wrong MOU-signed date: the date you believe is correct, any confirmation email you have from E-Verify, and the name of an employee whose case was blocked.

Related articles

• Reviewing and Verifying Form I-9 (Section 2)
• E-Verify Case Statuses and Workflow
• E-Verify Automated Reminders
• Setting Up Self-Onboarding
• Managing the Document Library
• I-9 Verification and E-Verify with Clear I-9