Foreign Contractors Can Check Employment Eligibility Online

Foreigners who aspire to work for federal contractors can now use a Spanish-language website to make sure their correct immigration status is on file with the government before their employers are required to do so -- avoiding potential unemployment.

All personnel doing business with the government must pass muster with e-Verify, an online system that U.S. businesses use to check the employment eligibility of new hires. In March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, began offering an English-version of the system - e-Verify Self Check -- in a few states for foreign jobseekers to check that their personal information is accurate.

On Tuesday, USCIS announced a Spanish version is now available and the service has been expanded to 16 additional states. Nationwide rollout is expected by the spring.

Federal vendors often complain e-Verify contains errors such as missing Social Security numbers that generate messages showing a hire has no legal documentation. If that happens, the employee only has eight days to start working with the Social Security Administration to resolve the mistake. Otherwise, the staffer could lose his or her job.

You can try e-Verify Self Check if you live in California, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, Virginia and the District of Columbia.