[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 124 (Thursday, June 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42093-42094]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13786]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
[OMB Control Number 1615-NEW]
Agency Information Collection Activities; New Collection: E-
Verify NextGen, I-9NG
AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of
Homeland Security.
ACTION: 60-Day notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites the general public and other
Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed new collection of
information. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of
1995, the information collection notice is published in the Federal
Register to obtain comments regarding the nature of the information
collection, the categories of respondents, the estimated burden (i.e.,
the time, effort, and resources used by the respondents to respond),
the estimated cost to the respondent, and the actual information
collection instruments.
DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until
August 28, 2023.
ADDRESSES: All submissions received must include the OMB Control Number
1615-NEW in the body of the letter, the agency name and Docket ID
USCIS-2023-0011. Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal
website at https://www.regulations.gov under e-Docket ID number USCIS-
2023-0011.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy,
Regulatory Coordination Division, Samantha Deshommes, Chief, telephone
number (240) 721-3000 (This is not a toll-free number. Comments are not
accepted via telephone message). Please note contact information
provided here is solely for questions regarding this notice. It is not
for individual case status inquiries. Applicants seeking information
about the status of their individual cases can check Case Status
Online, available at the USCIS website at https://www.uscis.gov, or
call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
With this demonstration project, called ``E-Verify NextGen,'' USCIS
intends to further integrate the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification, process with the E-Verify electronic employment
eligibility confirmation process to create a more secure and less
burdensome employment eligibility verification process overall for
employees and employers. This integrated internet-based project will
permit employees to create their own secure account, resolve E-Verify
tentative non-confirmations (also referred to as ``mismatches'') in
advance and directly with the government, instead of through their
employer, and then receive an electronic verification response that
they can use and update with subsequent employers.
The current employment eligibility verification process relies on
employer participation to ensure both employees and employers correctly
enter information on the Form I-9 and then subsequently transfer that
information into the E-Verify system. This employer intervention with
employee-related information is less secure and sometimes results in
data entry errors with the cases created in E-Verify. These cases can
result in E-Verify mismatches that may require additional actions by
the employer, the employee, the Social Security Administration, and
DHS, to complete an employment eligibility verification. The burden of
initiating this resolution process currently falls mostly on employers.
If an employer does not correctly follow the E-Verify steps needed to
communicate the mismatch resolution processes to employees, including
failing to notify the employee of the mismatch, the employees and the
government have difficulty resolving the mismatch, and the employees
and employers may not receive timely and appropriate confirmation of
their employment eligibility. Employees who are not notified of their
mismatch may not have an opportunity to resolve it and can face
termination if their E-Verify case results in a final nonconfirmation.
The goal of E-Verify NextGen is to streamline the employment
eligibility verification and confirmation process for employers and
employees by:
Resolving E-Verify mismatches and electronically issuing
an employment authorized result to individuals who E-Verify finds to be
work authorized, which will expedite future E-Verify
[[Page 42094]]
checks and make an employee's employment eligibility verification
easier for future employment.
Giving employees more direct control over their data
privacy and a more direct stake in their employment eligibility
verification process by creating a secure, individual account for
employment eligibility verification. This better protects personally
identifiable information and helps improve data accuracy.
Allowing employees to receive notification of and resolve
E-Verify mismatches directly with the government without requiring the
employer to be an intermediary to print and distribute forms, which is
a more secure and private process that can speed up case resolution.
Removing the employer's primary role in the mismatch
resolution process. While employers would be informed about their
employee's mismatch, this process removes employers as the intermediary
to communicate a mismatch to the employee, as affected employees are
instead notified directly and provided the instructions required to
resolve the mismatch.
The demonstration project will be built upon the existing USCIS and
E-Verify web services capabilities and will be enhanced by two
electronic applications for the employee and employer, respectively,
each of which will have its own terms of service. USCIS will conduct
detailed internal assessments of the demonstration project and intends
to provide necessary reports and briefings on the project status as
required by law. USCIS now welcomes comments to the proposed collection
of information associated with these new functionalities.
Comments
You may access the information collection instrument with
instructions or additional information by visiting the Federal
eRulemaking Portal site at: https://www.regulations.gov and entering
USCIS-2023-0011 in the search box. All submissions will be posted,
without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov, and will include any personal information you
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You
may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information that
you provide in any voluntary submission you make to DHS. DHS may
withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it
determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For
additional information, please read the Privacy Act notice that is
available via the link in the footer of https://www.regulations.gov.
Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected
agencies should address one or more of the following four points:
(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used;
(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and
(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic
submission of responses.
Overview of This Information Collection
(1) Type of Information Collection: New Collection.
(2) Title of the Form/Collection: E-Verify NextGen.
(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the
DHS sponsoring the collection: I-9NG; USCIS.
(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as
well as a brief abstract: Primary: Individuals or households; Business
or other for-profit; Not-for-profit institutions. E-Verify NextGen, I-
9NG, was developed as a demonstration project to further integrate the
Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, process with the E-
Verify electronic employment eligibility confirmation process to create
a more secure and less burdensome employment eligibility verification
process overall for employees and employers.
(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: The estimated
total number of respondents for the information collection I-9NG
Employers, Recruiters and Referrers for a fee, and State Employment
Agencies is 189,015 and the estimated hour burden per response is 0.05
hours; the estimated total number of respondents for the information
collection I-9NG Employees (New User Account Creation) is 11,668,584
and the estimated burden per response is 0.17 hours; the estimated
total number of respondents for the information collection I-9NG
Employees (Employment Eligibility Verification, Form I-9NG) is
13,231,050 and the estimated burden per response is 0.08 hours; the
estimated total number of respondents for the information collection by
Record Keeping and Audits is 13,248,648 and the estimated burden per
response is 0.17 hours.
(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated
with the collection: The total estimated annual hour burden associated
with this collection is 5,955,966 hours.
(7) An estimate of the total public burden (in cost) associated
with the collection: The estimated total annual cost burden associated
with this collection of information is $0. This is a voluntary program.
Any requirements to support the verification process are already
available through other approved collections of information that may be
employment related or occur as a part of the hiring process.
Dated: June 23, 2023.
Samantha L. Deshommes,
Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy,
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland
Security.
[FR Doc. 2023-13786 Filed 6-28-23; 8:45 am]
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