If your company uses E-Verify, a deadline is coming up in January. USCIS has announced that it will dispose of E-Verify case records that are 10 years old or older, and employers who want to keep a copy need to download it first. The window is short, and it is easy to miss because nothing breaks until the records are gone.
Last verified: October 12, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
What E-Verify announced
In a notice posted on October 1, 2026, E-Verify said employers have until January 8, 2027 to download records for cases last updated on or before December 31, 2016. On January 11, 2027, USCIS will dispose of E-Verify records more than 10 years old.
The agency's records retention and disposal fact sheet says it removes records that are 10 years old or older each year, under a National Archives retention schedule, to reduce security and privacy risks from holding personal information. So this is a recurring cycle, not a one-time event.
What you can download
The tool is the Historical Records Report. According to the download instructions, you run it from the Reports menu, generate it, and save it. Employer agent accounts can filter by their own account, by a specific client company, or run it for all linked accounts. The report downloads as a file that is really CSV data, and large reports may arrive as a ZIP of several files.
The fact sheet says the report includes the company name and location, the case number and initiation date, the employee name, resolution dates, final status, and the case closure description. The download instructions note it leaves out sensitive data such as Social Security numbers and document numbers. The fact sheet says a program administrator or corporate administrator can download it.
The Form I-9 connection
The same notice reminds employers to record the E-Verify case verification number on each corresponding Form I-9, or attach a copy of the case details page to it, if that has not been done already. It also says to keep the Historical Records Report with your Forms I-9.
That matters because of how long the I-9 itself must be kept. USCIS says to retain and store Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire, or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Keeping the case number on the I-9 means the I-9 file still points to the E-Verify case after the case record itself is gone from the E-Verify system. Check with your counsel or PEO on your own retention schedule.
A quick note on E-Verify+
Also on October 1, E-Verify announced new employer and employee guides for E-Verify+. The employer guide covers creating cases, completing a Form I-9 review, updating employee information, and handling receipts for lost, stolen or damaged documents. If your company uses or is moving to E-Verify+, it is worth a read.
In my HR administration work, I-9 and E-Verify tasks sat alongside onboarding, audits and HRIS data review. Deadlines like this one are easy to lose between those jobs, which is a good reason to give the January date a named owner now rather than in December.
What to do this week
- Find out who your E-Verify program administrator is, and confirm they can still log in.
- If a PEO or other agent runs E-Verify for you, ask them in writing whether they will download and share the Historical Records Report for your company before January 8, 2027.
- Put the January 8 deadline on the HR calendar with a reminder in early December, well ahead of the holidays.
- Spot-check a sample of Forms I-9 for the E-Verify case number or an attached case details page, and fix gaps.
- Decide where the downloaded report will be stored, who can access it, and how it will be filed with your I-9 records.
This post covers only what E-Verify has announced. Dates can change, so check the E-Verify What's New page before you rely on the dates here.
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