E-Verify Resumes Operations: Critical Compliance Deadlines for Employers and Contractors

Following a recent service disruption, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that the E-Verify system is now fully operational. This announcement has immediate implications for employers, HR professionals, and federal contractors who rely on E-Verify to comply with employment eligibility verification requirements.

At VKM Law Group, we advise employers to act promptly to avoid penalties and maintain compliance with federal hiring laws.

What Happened?

Between late September and early October 2025, the E-Verify system experienced an unexpected outage, preventing users from creating new cases or updating existing ones. Now that operations have resumed, USCIS has issued specific guidance to help employers catch up and remain in compliance.

Immediate Action Required for Employers

If you hired employees while E-Verify was unavailable, you must:

⏳ Create E-Verify Cases by Tuesday, October 14, 2025

• Use the hire date from Form I-9 as the hire date in E-Verify.
• If you’re outside the usual three-day submission window due to the outage:
  • E-Verify will ask you to provide a reason.
  • Select “Other” and enter: “E-Verify not available.”
• The system will not count outage days against your timeline.

Handling Tentative Nonconfirmations (TNCs)

If an employee received a Tentative Nonconfirmation (TNC) and chose to contest it:

You must update their “Referral Date Confirmation” with a new deadline using one of the following:

1. Reprint a new notice from E-Verify showing the updated deadline.

2. Handwrite the new date on the existing notice.

3. Add six (6) federal business days to the original date.
   🗓 Federal business days exclude weekends and federal holidays.

Important: If the TNC was referred on or after October 8, 2025, follow standard timelines — do not add extra days.

Guidance for Federal Contractors

Federal contractors impacted by the outage should note:

• Outage days will not count against your E-Verify compliance deadlines.

• Contractors who were unable to enroll or verify workers on time are granted extended timelines.

• Contact your contracting officer for contract-specific guidance.

Employees with E-Verify or E-Verify+ Cases

If an employee couldn’t resolve a mismatch during the outage, they now have additional time to contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) or Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Options for Employees:

• Log into their E-Verify+ account to see the new action date, or

• Ask their employer for an updated Referral Date Confirmation notice

🔗 USCIS E-Verify Update

How VKM Law Group Can Help

As a trusted immigration and employment law firm based in New Jersey, VKM Law Group provides guidance to:

• Employers navigating I-9 and E-Verify compliance

• Federal contractors managing verification requirements

• HR departments ensuring lawful hiring practices

With E-Verify back online, now is the time to review your employment verification procedures, correct any delayed cases, and update mismatch notices.