After a number of legal hold-ups, the E-Verify system is soon going to be a required system for the verification of employee eligibility verification for federal contractors and subcontractors. Effective September 8, 2009, all companies with contracts with the federal government and their subcontractors will be required to use E-Verify to verify the employment eligibility of their employees. E-Verify compares information entered into the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form against data in federal government databases.

The E-Verify system is free to use and was created by the Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Social Security Administration.

Legislation requiring the use of E-Verify extends the use of the E-Verify system to “covered federal contractors and subcontractors.” This includes all contractors that have received funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. All companies that receive federal contracts after September 8 will be required to enroll in the E-Verify system within 30 days of the contract award date. All new hires, regardless of whether these employees will work on the federal contract(s), will need to have their eligibility confirmed by the E-Verify System.