New E-Verify Memorandum of Understanding

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be releasing a new set of E-Verify memoranda of understanding (MOUs), which will become effective on December 8, 2013. The MOU is the legal document that must be executed by employers prior to participation in E-Verify, the government program for confirming work authorization of employees. The MOU constitutes the agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and the user and states the relative responsibilities of each party.

The new MOUs do not change the E-Verify enrollment process, but there are a few significant changes. First, there will be a new MOU for each E-Verify access method. That means that there will be a different MOU to be executed depending on whether you are accessing E-Verify as an Employer, an Employer Agent (formerly known as a Designated Agent), or a Corporate Administrator, or if you are accessing Web Services as an Employer, Employer Agent or Web Developer. Other changes to the MOUs include enhanced privacy protections and instructions for reporting privacy and security breaches and improved language and organization, making the MOUs clearer and easier to understand.

Existing users of E-Verify will not be required to execute a new MOU, however, users should understand that they are bound to all changes to E-Verify, which includes the terms of the new MOU. Accordingly, all existing E-verify participants should review the new MOU applicable to their respective access methods to become familiar with the changes.