i9 Intelligence vs. E-Verify+

Your I-9s stop when E-Verify does

E-Verify+ puts the Form I-9 inside E-Verify, and E-Verify depends on annual federal funding. It was offline for all 35 days of the December 2018 to January 2019 shutdown, and again from October 1 to 9, 2025, until USCIS brought it back mid-shutdown. It stayed up through the 76-day DHS lapse earlier in 2026, so there's no fixed pattern. Current funding runs through December 11, 2026.

While E-Verify is down, you can't complete an E-Verify+ I-9 at all. The I-9 deadlines don't move for a shutdown: Section 1 by the first day of work and Section 2 within three business days. States that require E-Verify don't pause their mandates either.

"When E-Verify shuts down, and it's shut down a few times over the last couple of years, it completely removes the ability of a company to do an I-9," says Jed Butler, CEO of i9 Intelligence. "That literally creates violations and risk. E-Verify+ is free, but it's government software."

In i9 Intelligence the I-9 lives in our system, so new hires keep completing Section 1 and Section 2 keeps getting done during an outage. Only the E-Verify case waits, and you create it once E-Verify is back. Our E-Verify shutdown guide covers what to document while you wait.

Remote hires still need a live video call

E-Verify+ gets pitched for remote hiring because new hires upload photos of their documents from home. USCIS's own FAQ says the upload doesn't replace the review: "a live video interview must take place to visually see the new employee and to corroborate their documents." Someone on your staff runs that call for every remote hire, or examines the documents in person.

On i9 Intelligence, an authorized representative you choose completes Section 2 at no extra cost, or our US-based team does it by video for $50. Here's how our remote verification works.

Who can use it

E-Verify+ works only in Employer Access accounts with an active program administrator. Before the first case, the employer accepts the E-Verify+ Terms of Service and attests that someone watched the required training video. Every new hire then creates or signs in to a myUSCIS account to fill out their part. On i9 Intelligence, new hires start Section 1 from a text or email link with a one-time code, and nobody creates an account.

It isn't available through E-Verify employer agents or Web Services, the two ways I-9 software connects to E-Verify, so E-Verify+ can't run through any I-9 vendor or connect to an HRIS or ATS. Using it also means enrolling in E-Verify and creating a case for every new hire at the hiring sites you enroll, no later than the third business day after they start work.

Receipts and pending Social Security numbers

A new hire who brings a receipt for a lost, stolen, or damaged document, or who has applied for a Social Security number and doesn't have it yet, drops out of the E-Verify+ flow. USCIS's information sheet has the employer close the E-Verify+ case, download the I-9, update it by hand outside E-Verify+ once the replacement document or SSN arrives, and then create a new regular E-Verify case. Tracking who still owes you a document happens wherever you keep that list.

i9 Intelligence has a receipt option in document selection and tools for pending SSNs. Both show up on the dashboard, in the expiring documents report or the pending SSN report, so the follow-up stays on the same record.

Reverification and keeping your own copy

USCIS's E-Verify+ guides and FAQ don't describe reverification alerts or Supplement B, so expiring work authorization needs its own tracking. USCIS also expects the employer to retain the Form I-9, and E-Verify deletes old case records on a schedule. Employers have until January 8, 2027 to download records last updated on or before December 31, 2016, before E-Verify disposes of them. Download and keep your own copy of every I-9 you complete in E-Verify+.

In i9 Intelligence, reverification alerts go out at 180, 90, 60, and 30 days, Supplement B is completed on the same record, and every I-9 stays searchable.

What free costs

E-Verify+ costs nothing. i9 Intelligence starts at $50 a month for up to 50 I-9s a year, with users, locations, E-Verify, and API access included, and a compliance team that has done only I-9 and E-Verify since 1998 behind every plan. You're weighing that fee against I-9s that stop during an outage, a staff member on every remote video call, and receipts, pending SSNs, and reverification tracked by hand.