Is E-Verify Back Up? Government Shutdown Status & Employer Guide

Yes, E-Verify is up, and there is no government shutdown on October 1, 2026. The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (H.R. 6500), signed September 2, 2026, funds the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through December 11, 2026. That is the next date E-Verify could go dark. Check e-verify.gov for live system status.

E-Verify is run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a DHS agency. Most of USCIS runs on application fees, but E-Verify itself depends on annual appropriations, which is why it has gone offline in past shutdowns. The last few lapses broke the old rule that a shutdown automatically means E-Verify is down. It went offline for about a week at the start of the October 2025 shutdown, then stayed up through the entire 76-day DHS lapse in 2026.

Current Status: Funded Through December 11, 2026

Congress moved early this time. The Senate passed the stopgap 90–6, the House passed it 370–48 on September 1, and the President signed it September 2, almost a month before fiscal year 2027 began on October 1. It keeps all 12 appropriations bills at fiscal 2026 levels, DHS included, so case creation, mismatch (Tentative Nonconfirmation, or TNC) resolution, and myE-Verify all run normally.

None of the 12 full-year appropriations bills has passed. If Congress doesn't pass them or another continuing resolution by December 11, the outage questions in the rest of this guide come back. Employers in mandatory E-Verify states should have the outage plan below written down before then.

How E-Verify Held Up in Recent Shutdowns

Each recent funding lapse played out differently for E-Verify:

• February 14 to April 30, 2026 (76 days, DHS only): The longest shutdown in U.S. history, though it covered a single department. E-Verify stayed online the entire time. The visible damage landed elsewhere in DHS, including TSA screening lines and CBP's suspension of Global Entry processing.
• January 31 to February 3, 2026 (4 days): A short lapse affecting about half of federal departments, ended when the House passed a funding package with a two-week stopgap for DHS. E-Verify was not significantly disrupted.
• October 1 to November 12, 2025 (43 days, full government): E-Verify went offline October 1, the same as in earlier shutdowns. On October 9, with the rest of the government still closed, E-Verify announced it had resumed operations. Employers had until October 14 to create cases for anyone hired during the outage, and the offline days did not count toward the three-business-day rule.
• December 2018 to January 2019 (35 days): E-Verify was offline for the whole shutdown. Employers could not create cases or resolve mismatches for over a month.

The trend since 2025 favors keeping E-Verify running, but DHS didn't explain why it brought the system back in October 2025, and there's no guarantee the next lapse goes the same way. October 2025 started with E-Verify going dark. Plan for that version.

Extra Pressure for Employers in Mandatory E-Verify States

In states that require E-Verify for private employers, including Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Florida (25 or more employees), an outage doesn't suspend the state law. These states enforce their own mandates, so a federal shutdown doesn't pause a state audit. "The system was down" only works as a defense if you can show exactly which cases were delayed and when you created them.

That takes a written record of three things. The cases you attempted on time, the cases you queued during the outage, and the date you cleared the backlog. Without it, you're exposed at the federal and state level at once.

The E-Verify Backlog Problem

The biggest compliance gap we see after an outage is the backlog of cases nobody created. People get hired while E-Verify is down, their Forms I-9 get finished on paper or in the HR system, and the E-Verify case never gets opened. When the system comes back, those cases slip, especially when someone is re-keying I-9 data into E-Verify by hand or the HR platform has no automated case submission.

The gap usually stays invisible until an audit. Every E-Verify case records when it was created relative to the hire date, and a cluster of late cases after a shutdown stands out even when the original delay was legitimate. The outage itself is rarely what hurts. The two weeks after it are.

What Employers Should Do During an E-Verify Outage

Even with E-Verify online today, the time to decide who owns the backlog is before the next lapse. If E-Verify goes down:

1. Keep completing Forms I-9 on time. E-Verify never replaces the Form I-9. Section 1 is still due by the employee's first day of work and Section 2 within three business days of the start date.
2. Don't take adverse action. You can't fire, suspend, or delay a start date because an E-Verify case couldn't be created or is still pending.
3. Document every delayed case. In October 2025, E-Verify asked for a reason for delay at case creation and told employers to select "Other" and enter "E-Verify not Available."
4. Create the delayed cases as soon as service resumes, using the hire date from the employee's Form I-9. The catch-up window after October 2025 was short, five days from the restoration announcement to the October 14 deadline.
5. Watch e-verify.gov for system status and any deadline extensions. That's where USCIS posted the October 2025 instructions.

Form I-9 Obligations Never Pause

Your I-9 responsibilities are the same during a shutdown as on any other day. Whether E-Verify is online or not, every new hire completes Section 1 by the first day of work, you examine original identity and work authorization documents, Section 2 is done within three business days of the start date, and completed forms are retained for the required period.

The employers who get hurt in an outage are usually the ones treating E-Verify as their whole compliance process. The Form I-9 is the legal requirement. E-Verify sits on top of it.

How i9 Intelligence Handles Shutdowns Automatically

The backlog problem above is the part our platform removes. During the October 2025 shutdown, when E-Verify went down and came back online, every queued case on our platform processed automatically, with no manual re-entry. Our customers didn't have to track which hires were waiting.

If E-Verify goes offline, the platform queues each case and submits it the moment service resumes. Delayed cases are tagged "Government Shutdown" in your compliance records, which is the paper trail federal and state auditors ask for. Active users get a notification when E-Verify status changes, and employees keep completing their Forms I-9 on schedule the whole time. See how the platform works or book a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is E-Verify down right now?

No. E-Verify is operating normally, and federal funding, including DHS, runs through December 11, 2026. Check e-verify.gov for live status.

Do I still have to complete Forms I-9 during a shutdown?

Yes. Form I-9 requirements are not affected by government shutdowns. The Section 1 and Section 2 deadlines stay in effect.

What if I can't create an E-Verify case on time?

If E-Verify is unavailable, record the reason for the delay and create the case as soon as the system returns, using the hire date from the Form I-9. After the October 2025 outage, E-Verify excluded the offline days from the three-business-day rule and set a catch-up deadline. You may not take adverse action against an employee because a case is delayed or pending.

How long do government shutdowns usually last?

Most have lasted a few days to a few weeks, but the two most recent long ones set records. The full-government shutdown that began October 1, 2025 lasted 43 days. The DHS-only lapse that began February 14, 2026 lasted 76 days and ended April 30, 2026, making it the longest in U.S. history.

When could E-Verify go down next?

Not before December 11, 2026, when the current stopgap funding expires. Whether E-Verify goes offline in a future lapse is DHS's call. It went down at the start of the October 2025 shutdown and stayed up through the 2026 DHS lapse, so plan for either outcome.

Build the Outage Plan Before December 11

Three funding lapses between October 2025 and April 2026 turned shutdowns into a recurring compliance risk. The time to decide who owns the E-Verify backlog is before the next deadline, not during the outage. Schedule a free compliance call and we'll walk through your current process.

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