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E-Verify Rule Postponed for 4th Time

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Obama administration has postponed for the fourth time its implementation of the federal E-Verify rule, which will require federal contractors and subcontractors to use the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ E-Verify system. The new deadline is Sept. 8.

The rule will affect only federal contractors who are awarded a new contract after Sept. 8, 2009, that includes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause (73 FR 67704).

Federal contractors may not use E-Verify to verify current employees until the rule becomes effective and they are awarded a contract that includes the FAR E-Verify Clause.

The new rule implements Executive Order 12989, as amended by President George W. Bush on June 6, 2008, directing federal agencies to require that federal contractors agree to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their employees.

The amended Executive Order reinforces the policy, first announced in 1996, that the federal government does business with companies that have a legal workforce.

This new rule requires federal contractors to agree, through language inserted into their federal contracts, to use E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of all persons hired during a contract term, and to confirm the employment eligibility of federal contractors’ current employees who perform contract services for the federal government within the United States.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have sued to block the rule.

For more information, visit www.uscis.gov/everify.