Companies or Business Units that are enrolled in E-Verify must be added in this setup to interact with the USCIS E-Verify System. This step is not needed if the Company/Business Unit (Legal Entity) is not planning to use E-Verify.

Who can access DHS Client Setup?

The users with System Administrator or E-Verify Specialist role can access the DHS Client Setup.

How do you access DHS Client Setup?

System Administrator

Click the menu icon on the top left corner and choose "DHS Client Setup" within the "Integration" section in the menu navigation.

E-Verify Specialist

Click the menu icon on the top left corner and choose "DHS Client Setup" within the "Utilities" section in the menu navigation.

What details are included in the DHS Client Setup?

For legal entities (Companies or Business Units) that are enrolled in E-Verify, web service accounts should be set up in the DHS Client Setup to connect with the USCIS E-Verify system. The DHS Client Setup interface will present relevant fields based on the chosen Company/Business Unit within the Legal Entity Driver. For setting up the Legal Entity Driver for an organization, please click here.

Note: For legal entities participating in E-Verify, the E-Verify activity will be routed only if the Company/Business Unit has set up the web service account in the DHS Client Setup.

Enter the DHS User ID, Password, and Confirm Password for each designated legal entity (Company or Business Unit) and proceed to save the information.

The fields on the DHS Client Setup page are explained below:

DHS Client Setup when "Company" is selected as the Legal Entity Driver in I-9 Options:

DHS Client Setup when "Business Unit" is selected as the Legal Entity Driver in I-9 Options:

Note: Each Company/Business Unit can use a different DHS User ID and Password or the same.

Note: If the web service account password is changed, update the new password details in this setup so that there will be no issues when the system is communicated with the USCIS E-Verify.

Few validation messages that you may encounter while saving this page are explained below:

If you save the setup without entering Password or Confirm Password field, the following message will be displayed on the page.

If the Password and Confirm Password fields do not match, the error message displayed will be as follows:

Upon saving the configuration and refreshing the page, the system will display one of the following messages for the legal entity setup, depending on the User ID and Password values.

If the entered User ID and Password is incorrect:

If the password for the DHS account has expired:

If the User ID and Password is correct, the message will have the details of password reset date and the number days remaining until the password expires.

To make sure the current setup is correct, click on "Verify Connectivity" link for the Company that you have added/updated. (Note: Before you verify the connectivity, make sure the new entries added/updated on the page are saved).

The below message displays if the connection is successful.

If the Password entered is incorrect, the below message displays on Verify Connectivity.

How to add/delete a row in the DHS Client Setup?

For legal entities participating in E-Verify, the E-Verify activity will be routed only if the Company/Business Unit has set up the web service account in the DHS Client Setup.

In this example, a new row adding for a Company is given below. Click on the "Add" button present on the top right corner of any row.

A new row will be added below as shown. Click on the lookup icon to choose the Company.

Select the Company value for which you want to add the web service setup. Note: All the attribute values added to the Company attribute through Attribute Revision will appear in the lookup. For details on adding an attribute, please click here to visit the Attribute Revision page.

The Desired Lookup ID and the Desired Lookup Description for the selected Company will populate in the Company ID field.  Enter the DHS web service User ID and Password details and save.

Note: Each Company can use a different DHS User ID and Password or the same.

If the Company already exists in the setup, then the duplicate value error displays as below.

To make sure the current setup is correct, click on "Verify Connectivity" link for the Company that you just added. (Note: Before you verify the connectivity, make sure the new entries added on the page are saved)

The below message displays if the connection is successful.

To delete a Company value from DHS Client Setup, click on the "Delete" button on the corresponding row and save.

How do you search for a Company/Business Unit value in the DHS Client Setup?

In the DHS Client Setup, the grid on top of the list will show the total number of rows existing in the setup. Use "Previous" and "Next"  to scroll through the list of values.

Another way to find a particular text/setup on the page is by using the "Find" link provided on the grid. Enter the text in the search box and click on "OK". This will brig up the search result on the page.

How to enable batch process for E-Verify?

Instead of creating E-Verify cases manually for each newly hired employee, you can enable the batch process in the DHS Client Setup for auto case creation and submission of E-Verify cases to DHS.

To configure the batch process for a specific Company/Business Unit, enable the "Allow Batch DHS Case Creation" checkbox on the corresponding row. Transactions marked with the "Allow Batch DHS Case Creation" option for the Legal Entity (Company/Business Unit) and awaiting DHS verification, will be picked up by the batch process for E-Verify. Enabling the "Allow Batch DHS Case Creation" checkbox will also present a link to enter the case submitter details. These details will serve as the default information for the E-Verify cases created through the batch process for the associated legal entity.

To provide the case submitter details, click on the "Default Case Submitter Details" link.

Enter the information and click "OK". This information is used for all the DHS cases that are initiated through batch process for that legal entity.

While creating E-Verify cases, if the transaction has a delay for more than “Hire Date + 3 business days”, then the batch process will consider the "Overdue Verify Reason" selected here as the delay reason.

In case, if the reason is other than the options given here, then select "Other" and enter the reason in the text box that is populated below.

How does the batch process for DHS auto case creation and submission work?

For batch case creation and submission of E-Verify cases to DHS, there is a batch process scheduled to run everyday at 8pm PST in SmartERP cloud production environment. All the eligible transactions (which have the "Allow Batch DHS Case Creation" checked for the Company/Business Unit in DHS Client Setup) that are awaiting DHS verification will be picked up and the cases will be auto submitted to the DHS. During the submission, if the case status is "Employment Authorized", then the E-Verify activity will be auto completed with the case status "Case Closed - EA Auto Closed". After the process runs, an email notification will be sent to the case submitter with the number of cases submitted and their status. (Note: The case submitter details given in the DHS Client Password Setup is used for this purpose.)

Note:

1. If the DHS site is down during submission, all transactions will be re-submitted during the next processing cycle. This will be notified to the case submitter via an email.

2. If an incorrect User ID/Password exists in the DHS Client Setup for a Company/Business Unit, the batch process will skip the processing of transactions related to those specific Companies/Business Units. However, it will continue processing other eligible transactions having the correct password setup. In this case, the case submitter will be notified via the following email.

3. There are few exception scenarios where the batch process will not pick up the transactions for processing because E-Verify is not allowed and the activity is completed using "Mark as Complete" option. Example: Applied for SSN, receipts in Section 2. These transactions will be considered for case creation during the next process cycle after the valid documents are presented.

All transactions that are picked up by the batch process and E-Verify case created, will have the E-Verify case details updated in their E-Verify activity as well as in Form I-9 Master.

A sample EA Auto closed transaction is given below.

For the above transaction, the E-Verify case details updated in Form I-9 Master is shown below:

Following the completion of the batch process, an email notification with the following format will be sent to the case submitter's email address. The email will include an attachment containing the list of all transactions processed and case submission failures during that instance.

Case Submission Failure Transactions:

Transaction(s) for which the E-Verify case could not be created will have E-Verify Status as "Awaiting DHS Verification" with no value in E-Verify Case Number. (Transactions with E-Verify case created will have the case number displayed in the report.). The case submission failure count given in the email will be in sync with the number of failed transactions present in the DHS E-Verify Report.

Download the file and review the transactions that have failed to create the E-Verify case. Take action on these transactions to resolve the errors. 

Using the Invitation IDs mentioned in the report, you can identify the invitations in My Tasks Console/Keyword Search My Tasks category and take action to resolve the errors.

Once it is done, these transactions will again be considered for case creation during the next process cycle. 

Few scenarios where the transaction might fail to process and the E-Verify case cannot be created are given below:

1. When the data given in I-9 Section 2 is incorrect. In this case, the Document Number provided in Section 2 is less than 6 characters. 

2. When E-Verify is out of compliance (if “Hire Date + 3 business days” has passed for case creation) and the Overdue Reason is not provided in Default Case submitter Details of the DHS Client Setup.

3. When the duplicate case exists for the transaction (the Social Security Number of the transaction matches with the Social Security Number of an existing case for the same Client Company ID).  

How to submit the transaction after resolving the error?

After resolving the issue, you can let these transactions to be picked up by the batch process in the next cycle or submit the case from E-Verify activity. 

If you wish to submit your transaction through E-Verify activity, then navigate to "My Tasks" console or Keyword Search "My Tasks" and access the transaction.

When you click on the "E-Verify" link, the E-Verify activity opens as below:

Scroll down the page, enter case creator's details and click on "Create Case" button.

Note: There will be no "Overdue Reason" in the E-Verify page for the transactions that are in "In Compliance" status (calculated based on Hire Date + 3 business days).

For the transactions that are in "Out of Compliance" state, the E-Verify page will have the "Overdue Reason" populated from the Case Submitter details in DHS Client Setup. 

Example: Out of Compliance transaction with Overdue Reason populated from DHS Client Setup Case Submitter Details is given below. Change the Overdue reason if needed and create the case.

Transactions with DHS Status other than "Case Closed - EA Auto Closed':

Transactions that are in DHS status other than 'Employment Authorized - EA Auto Closed' can be accessed in E-Verify Console or through Keyword Search under E-Verify Console category. 

Review them and if necessary take appropriate action to continue the verification process.

Accessing Transactions via E-Verify Console:

Click on "E-Verify Console" link in the Quick links bar.

In the E-Verify Console, click on the lookup icon for "DHS Status".

In the look up page, select the DHS sub state. As an example, let us access the transactions with "Unconfirmed Data" sub state.

The search results for DHS Status = "Unconfirmed Data" shows as given below. By clicking on the Case Number, you can open the activity and continue with the verification process.

Accessing Transactions through Keyword Search E-Verify Console:

In Keyword Search, select E-Verify Console as the Category and search using an appropriate Keyword. In this case, candidate's name is used as the Keyword. 

Click on the I-9 ID link to open the Unconfirmed Data page and continue with the verification process.

How to check for EA Auto closed transactions?

The transactions with EA Auto closed DHS status can be identified in the E-Verify Console or through Keyword Search E-Verify Console Category.

Accessing EA Auto Closed Transactions via E-Verify Console:

Click on "E-Verify Console" link in the Quick links bar.

Click on the lookup icon for "DHS Status".

Select DHS sub state as "Case Closed - EA Auto Closed".

Click on "Search".

This will fetch all transactions with DHS Status = "Case Closed - EA Auto Closed". 

Accessing EA Auto Closed Transactions via Keyword Search E-Verify Console:

In the Keyword Search, select E-Verify Console as the Category and search using an appropriate Keyword. In this case, "All" is used as the Keyword. Filter the search results for DHS Status = "Case Closed - EA Auto Closed". 

Click on any I-9 ID to open its E-Verify page:

Since E-Verify activity is auto completed for these transactions, they will be in process completed state. You can check their process status by navigating to the Invitation Console.

Click on the "Invitation Console" link in the Quick links bar of the Home page.

Search for the transactions using any search filter in the Invitation Console. Here, candidate's First Name is used for searching.

As given below, the process status for the EA Auto Closed transaction will be shown as "Invitation Completed".

How to update the reset password in the DHS Client Setup?

After the web service account password has been modified within the DHS site, ensure that the new password is promptly updated in the DHS Client Setup. This is important to maintain connectivity between Smart I-9/E-Verify or the Smart Onboarding portal and the USCIS E-Verify System.

In the DHS Client Setup, update the new password for all the applicable rows and save. Note: If same web service User ID is used for different Companies/Business Units, do not copy paste from the prior updated rows because once entered it will be encrypted. 

To make sure the new password setup is correct, click on "Verify Connectivity" link for the respective Company/Business Unit for which the password has been updated.

Below confirmation message is displayed when the connection is successfully verified.