Changes to the Basic Pilot Program: Now also known as the EEV
Basic Pilot is changing, it is now easier for employers to verify the eligibility of its newly hired employees
From Jessica Vaughn at CIS
“DHS has made some significant improvements to Basic Pilot in the last couple of years, and even more in the last few months. The purpose has been to improve the interoperability of its databases so that newly arrived immigrants and work-authorized non-immigrants can be quickly authorized through Basic Pilot and do not require manual verification. The organizations fighting use of Basic Pilot have used out-dated and misleading information in their press releases, testimony, etc, so it is important that people know about these improvements.
In addition, they have begun monitoring use of the program by employers to ensure that they are using it appropriately, and that employers are not just signing up for it and not using it.
Preventing Illegal Employment:
Federal “Basic Pilot” Verification Program is an Effective and Business-friendly Tool
House Committee on Labor
Rhode Island General Assembly
Providence, Rhode Island
March 14, 2007
Statement of Jessica M. Vaughan
Senior Policy Analyst
Center for Immigration Studies
Accuracy and Completeness of the Basic Pilot Databases. The Basic Pilot program relies on the databases maintained by the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security. These agencies recognize the need to return accurate results to employers, so that authorized workers are not denied employment. Some organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, National Immigration Law Center and ethnic advocacy groups, have objected to mandatory verification on the grounds that some authorized individuals could be denied employment due to errors in the database. This is theoretically a possibility; however, the system has safeguards built in to ensure that a tentative non-confirmation does not result in termination. Upon receipt of a tentative non-confirmation, employers have the chance to correct any data entry errors that may have been made, and the employee has a chance to correct any erroneous or out-dated information in the federal record. One common reason for a discrepancy is that the worker recently was married or divorced, but neglected to notify the SSA. Some workers may be known by their middle name, and use that on a job application, but find that the Social Security record has the full legal name. Expanding mandatory use of Basic Pilot will actually work to increase the accuracy of these federal databases, by providing further impetus for workers to update or correct the Social Security database well before it is time for them to begin collecting Social Security benefits.
As for the immigration records, DHS has taken steps to make the Basic Pilot system more interoperable with all the various sub-systems that could confirm an alien’s work authorization, including recent immigrants, temporary workers, refugees and asylees, those who change status, and other special cases. Most of the criticisms raising this objection are based on the early evaluations of Basic Pilot, and the issues have since been addressed. For instance, the first evaluation of Basic Pilot in 2002 noted that sometimes a new immigrant’s data would not be entered into the system for 6-9 months, meaning he could wrongfully be denied authorization. By 2005 it only took 10-12 days for this information to make it into the system, which is well within the time period before someone would be terminated for non-confirmation. Following the appropriation of more than $100 million in federal funding earmarked for Basic Pilot last year, DHS is now in the process of doing four new upgrades, scheduled for completion by June, 2007.
If a tentative non-confirmation turns out not to be the result of inaccurate data entry, the agencies will attempt a manual confirmation, whereby a staff member will comb records by hand to try to establish a worker’s status. According to DHS, this is usually accomplished in anywhere from one to ten days, depending on the situation.
The real-life experience of the state of Arizona is instructive. Arizona has been verifying the Social Security numbers of all 42,000 state employees about every five weeks since the fall of 2005. These regular audits reportedly turned up only 409 no-matches over the year, most of which were caused by the kind of name changes described above, meaning more than 99.9 percent of the state employees were verified without a problem. That is an impressive accuracy rate that should reassure other state governments contemplating this move”.
Complete testimony here
From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Website:
Registration for Employment Verification Pilot Programs
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau (USCIS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) are jointly conducting the Employment Eligibility Verification Program (EEV), formerly known as the Basic Pilot Program. EEV involves verification checks of the SSA and DHS databases, using an automated system to verify the employment authorization of all newly hired employees.
There are four types of access methods for EEV.
EEV/Basic Pilot
The EEV/Basic Pilot access method is a web-based program that provides a company with a way to electronically verify the employment authorization of all newly hired employees, regardless of citizenship.
Designated Agent
The Designated Agent access method is a web-based program available to companies (Designated Agents) to verifying the employment authorization of all newly hired employees on behalf of other companies (Client Companies).
Corporate Administrator
The Corporate Administrator access method is a web-based program that provides companies with multiple sites using the EEV/Basic Pilot Program, the functionality to create and manage multiple EEV/Basic Pilot accounts for those sites under the jurisdiction of a Corporate Office. Corporate Administrators have oversight of these company accounts. They are provided the ability to view reports and administer new and existing user accounts. The Corporate Administrator access method cannot perform employment eligibility verifications for newly hired employees. To verify the employment eligibility for your Corporate Office’s newly hired employees, the Corporate Office needs to also register for Basic Pilot access.
Web-Services
The Web-Service access method allows a company to extract information from the company’s existing system or an electronic Form I-9 and transmit the data to SSA and USCIS to verify the employment authorization of newly hired employees. The web-services access method requires your company to develop software to interface between your company’s system and USCIS’ database.
An employer’s participation in EEV is voluntary and is currently free to employers.
Users can access the web-based access methods using any Internet-capable Windows based personal computer and a web browser of Internet Explorer 5.5 or Netscape 4.7 or higher (with the exception of Netscape 7.0).
To participate, an employer must register online and accept the electronic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that sets forth the responsibilities of the SSA, USCIS and the employer.
If your company wants to participate in EEV, as an EEV/Basic Pilot user, designated agent, or corporate administrator, or if your company is interested in the web-service access method, click the “Begin Employment Verification Registration” button* shown below.
If you need assistance in completing the registration process or need additional information relating to EEV, please call the Office of Verification toll free at 1-888-464-4218.