WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is reminding federal contractors and subcontractors that effective today, they may be required to use the E-Verify system to verify their employees’ eligibility to work in the United States if their contract includes the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause. In July, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano strengthened employment eligibility verification by announcing the Administration’s support for the regulation that will award federal contracts only to employers who use E-Verify to check employee work authorization.

The E-Verify federal contractor rule extends use of the E-Verify system to cover federal contractors and subcontractors, including those who receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. Applicable federal contracts awarded and solicitations issued on or after today will include a clause committing government contractors to use E-Verify.

Companies awarded a contract with the E-Verify clause on or after today will be required to enroll in E-Verify within 30 days of the contract award date. With certain exceptions, E-Verify must be used to confirm that all new hires, whether employed on a federal contract or not, and existing employees directly working on these contracts are legally authorized to work in the United States.

More than 148,000 participating employers at nearly 560,000 worksites nationwide currently use E-Verify to electronically verify their workers’ employment eligibility. Since Oct. 1, 2008, more than 7.8 million employment verification queries have been run through the system and approximately 96.9 percent of all queries are now automatically confirmed as work-authorized within 24 hours or less.

More information on the program is available on the E-Verify Web site at www.dhs.gov/e-verify. E-Verify customer support is also available by calling toll free (888) 464-4218.