Hours before the government was due to shut down, President Obama signed into law a stopgap measure which will fund the federal government through Dec. 11, 2015. As reported in our previous post, E-Verify Reauthorization Deadline Looms, 
the possibility of a government shutdown would have affected, among other programs, the
E-Verify® program administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Similar to the 2013 federal government shutdown, which forced USCIS to pull the plug on employers’ use of the E-Verify system due to a lack of government funding, there would have been a repeat situation.
Passage of H.R. 719 removes the immediate threat of a government shutdown. For purposes of the E-Verify program, passage of H.R. 719 is noteworthy as not only is the program funded through Dec. 11, 2015, E-Verify’s authorization to exist as a program was also extended until Dec. 11, 2015. For those keeping close tabs on E-Verify, you will know that congressional authorization for E-Verify expired September 30, 2015. Negotiations are on-going in Congress to reauthorize the program for a period of 3 to 5 years.
At this time, please continue to complete Form I-9s and submit applicable cases to E-Verify as is your standard operating procedure.
Equifax will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as available via the Equifax Insights Blog, including Congressional action for the reauthorization of E-Verify after Dec. 11.
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