Confirming Employment Eligibility

E-Verify is a free, internet-based system that confirms an employee’s eligibility to work in the United States. It compares the information from an employee’s Form I-9 against records held by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.

The check is fast — most cases return a result almost immediately by cross-referencing federal records. Employers enroll voluntarily, though some are required to, so not every employer participates.

None of that would belong on a Career Services page except for one consequence: whether an employer is enrolled can decide how long you are able to work in the United States after you graduate. That makes it a question to answer while you are still choosing where to apply, not after you have an offer in hand.

Read that as a planning constraint rather than a disqualifier. A company that is not enrolled is not off your list — it is a company where your runway is shorter and where you would want a clear conversation about what happens at month twelve.

The practical move is to know the answer for every employer on your target list before you spend applications, because the research takes minutes and the consequence lasts two years.

Career Services provides career guidance, not immigration or legal advice. If a sentence on this page and a sentence from Global Services ever appear to disagree, Global Services is right.

Use them early and use them twice: once when you are building your target list, and again when you have an offer in writing.

Start with the campus tool, then confirm against the federal database. The two draw on the same federal enrollment data; the campus version is simply faster to use.

Three tips so the search does not mislead you. Each of these turns a false negative into a real answer, and all three come up constantly in coaching appointments.

• Search the legal entity, not the brand. Employers enroll under their registered name, which is often a parent company or a subsidiary you have never heard of. Try variations — the full legal name, the parent, the regional entity — before you conclude they are not enrolled.
• A miss is not proof. The database reflects current enrollments and can lag. If a company is not listed, ask the recruiter directly: “Is your organization enrolled in E-Verify?” It is a normal, professional question and it is asked of recruiters constantly.
• Confirm before you commit. Get the answer in writing from the employer, then take it to the Office of Global Services — they confirm what it means for your timeline.

Students worry that asking marks them out. It does not. Recruiters at any company that hires internationally field this question every week, and a candidate who asks it early reads as organised rather than difficult.

Timing is the part worth getting right. Asking in the first thirty seconds of a career fair conversation costs you the conversation. Asking after they know something about your work costs you nothing.

Almost every online application asks some version of two questions. They look similar and they are not, and answering them inconsistently is a common, avoidable reason an application is screened out.

Answer both honestly, every time. An inaccurate answer discovered later is grounds for an offer being withdrawn or employment ending, at any point, including after you have moved cities for the job. No short-term advantage is worth that.

If a system forces a binary answer that does not fit your situation, answer it accurately and use the cover letter or an email to add one clarifying sentence. Recruiters are used to this and the sentence is usually welcomed.

The single most useful hour an international student can spend on a job search is building a list of employers whose authorization posture is already known. It turns every later application into a decision you have already made.

Keep it in one sheet and bring it to a coach. Reviewing a real list is a far better use of thirty minutes than a general conversation about the job market, and it is the appointment coaches most wish students booked.

Some postings are closed to you and some only look closed. Knowing the difference saves both wasted applications and, more often, opportunities abandoned too early.

• “U.S. citizenship required” is usually real. Most federal positions, roles requiring a security clearance, and some defence contracting work are restricted by law or by contract. These are not negotiable and not worth an application.
• “Must be authorised to work without sponsorship” is narrower than it looks. It typically means the employer will not sponsor an H-1B. It does not always exclude a student on OPT, whose authorization the employer does not file for. Ask rather than assume — and confirm your own status with Global Services first.
• “Export control” language is specific, not general. It applies to particular technologies and roles rather than to a whole company, so another team at the same employer may be entirely open.
• Silence is not exclusion. A posting that says nothing about authorization is simply a posting that says nothing. Apply, and raise it at the recruiter screen.

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