Last week, U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) told 652 employers their I-9 forms were being audited. That’s more than the number of audits ICE conducted in the entire previous fiscal year. In addition to I-9s, many of the audits will also include subpoenas for EINs, payroll records and correspondences with the Social Security Administration regarding no-match letters.

The nationwide inspection follows an April announcement that ICE planned to focus the majority of its resources on prosecuting employers who hire illegal immigrants.

The list of companies being audited hasn’t been released. ICE has described the effort as a “first step,” meaning there will likely be more mass inspections in the near future.

What should HR managers do if they get a Notice of Inspection (NOI) from the feds?

Preparation is key. Employers must act quickly — the NOIs generally require HR to turn over all I-9s within three business days.

If I-9 records don’t pass muster with ICE, the agency could launch a criminal investigation. But even if there are no criminal charges, employers could face civil fines for faulty record-keeping.

An audit doesn’t always mean charges or fines are coming. After receiving an NOI, employers should:

• Respond quickly, even if it’s to ask ICE for a time extension
• Choose one point person to correspond with ICE — that will avoid any inconsistencies in the information given
• Notify all managers and employees who deal with I-9s and related documents
• Secure all applicable records — any missing documents could be seen as an attempt to destroy evidence or sabotage the investigation, and
• Consider conducting their own internal audit.

If you look closely at the upper right-hand corner of the Form I-9, you’ll see it’s supposed to expire today. What should you do now?

An easy answer: nothing.

The current form lists an expiration date of 6/30/09, but last week, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the form will remain valid after today.

On June 26, USCIS asked the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approved continued use of the current version. While the request is pending, the form will not expire, despite the date listed at the top of the first page.

When the extension is approved — and a new expiration date is set — USCIS will update the form.

But for now, just keep using the form on the agency’s Web site, dated “Rev. 02/02/09″ at the bottom of each page and the June 30 expiration date at the top.

Note: When the form is updated, it’s unlikely USCIS will make any substantial changes, just add the new dates.

The New Employee Verification Act, written by Reps. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona) and Sam Johnson (R-Texas), was introduced to the House on April 22.

If passed, it would require companies to sign up for the Electronic Employee Verification System, which would be based on the new hire reporting systems already used in each state to enforce child support payments. About 90% of employers already use their state’s new hire system, the bill’s backers said.

The electronic verification would replace the Form I-9.

The bill would also create a network of private, government certified worker authentication companies that would use biometric data like fingerprints to verify employment eligibility.

We’ll keep you posted on the bill’s movement.

Based on how many times the system has been used so far this year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) predicts E-Verify will be used to run more than 17 million queries in 2009. That would be an increase of 167% over last year.

If the projection is accurate, it would mean one out of every eight employees hired this year will be verified through E-Verify.

The USCIS didn’t explain why the numbers appear to be jumping so sharply, but the system has gotten a lot of use so far in 2009.

In January, the Department of Homeland Security announced that more than 100,000 employers had signed up for E-Verify. By the middle of February, another 10,000 had been added to the list.

Has your company used E-Verify? If not, do you ever plan on starting? Let us know in the comments section below.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the delay on Jan. 30 in response to a memorandum from the Obama administration asking federal agencies to freeze certain unimplemented regulations.

The rule updating the Form I-9 was set to take effect on Feb. 2, but was pushed back 60 days to April 3. In the meantime, employers should have been using the previous revision (dated 06/05/07 at the bottom of the last page).

That form should still be used until April 3.

Both the current version and the one employers will be required to switch to on April 3 are available from the USCIS here.

Though provisions to extend E-Verify were dropped from both the economic stimulus package and President Obama’s budget plan, the electronic employment verification system isn’t going away just yet.

The program was scheduled to expire this month, but the budget authorization signed by Obama last week will keep E-Verify running until at least September 30. The original version of the bill would have extended the program’s funding for five years, but that amendment was dropped.

Early versions of Obama’s stimulus bill also included a five-year extension, as well as a provision requiring any company receiving stimulus funds to use E-Verify for new hires. Both those provisions were removed from the final bill.

No money was added for the six-month extension, but the Department of Homeland Security says E-Verify has enough funding to last through September.

What now?

E-Verify’s supporters have been trying to secure a long-term future for the program since the end of last year, but to no avail. The program was first set to expire in November, before a six-month extension was signed by Congress.

That was after ten- and five-year extensions both failed to pass.

What does the future hold? Experts don’t expect calls for a big extension to go away any time soon — Obama has expressed his support for E-Verify, and many members of Congress will likely follow suit.

However, given the program’s recent setbacks, its future is less clear than ever. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

Have you used E-Verify? Should the program be extended or just go away? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the delay on Jan. 30 in response to a memorandum from the Obama administration asking federal agencies to freeze certain unimplemented regulations.

The rule updating the Form I-9 was set to take effect on Feb. 2, but has been pushed back 60 days to April 3.

Until then, employers should continue using the current version (dated 06/05/07 at the bottom of the last page).

Both the current version and the one employers will be required to switch to on April 3 are available from the USCIS here.