Understanding E-Verify case statuses

Last updated: November 4, 2026

This explains what each E-Verify case status means, whose turn it is at each one, and which cases you have to close yourself.

What it is

When your team submits a case from an employee's E-Verify task, E-Verify sends back a status. Onboarded shows it on the task next to the case number and, once there is one, the eligibility result. As E-Verify, DHS, or SSA work the case, the status changes and Onboarded picks up each update. The case number is also written onto the employee's Form I-9 in Section 2, under Additional Information.

Every case follows the same basic path: it's submitted, it gets a result, and it's closed. Most cases make that trip in seconds. The rest stop at a status that needs something from your team, the employee, or a government agency.

If you remember nothing else: the status tells you whose turn it is, and every case has to end up closed, either by E-Verify or by you.

Why it matters

E-Verify's rules hang off statuses. Some start a deadline, some forbid any action against the employee, and most leave the case open until someone closes it. Reading the status correctly tells you whether to act, wait, or close.

This matters most when:

A case has sat at the same status for days and you can't tell whether it's stuck or waiting on someone.
An employee gets a mismatch and your managers need to know what they can and can't do.
E-Verify or USCIS contacts you about cases that were never closed.

How it works

The statuses fall into four groups. Names below are the ones E-Verify uses.

Your team needs to act before E-Verify can decide

Status	What it means	What you do
`Photo Match`	The employee presented a U.S. passport, passport card, Permanent Resident Card, or Employment Authorization Document, and E-Verify is showing the photo it has on file.	Open the case from the E-Verify task and compare that photo to the employee's document, not to the employee in person. Then record whether they match.
`Scan and Upload`	E-Verify needs an image of the employee's document to finish the photo check.	Upload the document image from the case.
`Unconfirmed Data`	Some of the submitted data couldn't be confirmed as entered.	Check the entries against the I-9, correct them, and resubmit.

Waiting on E-Verify or an agency

Status	What it means	What you do
`Queued`	E-Verify received the case but hasn't processed it yet. Onboarded shows this as `Check Back Later`.	Wait. It updates on its own.
`E-Verify Needs More Time`	DHS is reviewing the case further.	Wait. The employee keeps working as normal.
`Case in Continuance`	The employee contacted DHS or SSA after a mismatch, and the agency needs more time.	Wait. No adverse action while the case is open.

The mismatch path

A Tentative Nonconfirmation (mismatch) means the I-9 data didn't match DHS or SSA records. It isn't a final result. The case sits at Pending Referral while you give the employee the Further Action Notice privately and they decide whether to take action. If they do, the case moves to Referred and they have 8 federal government working days to contact the agency. During the whole mismatch process you can't take adverse action against the employee. The full process is in 📄 E-Verify mismatches (TNC): what they mean and what to do.

Download the Further Action Notice before you refer the case. Once a case is referred, the notice is no longer available on the E-Verify task, and a referral can't be undone by anyone. If you need a notice for a case that's already referred, contact Onboarded support.

Final results

Status	What it means	What you do
`Employment Authorized`	The employee's information matched government records.	Nothing, if it came back right after submission. E-Verify closed it. If it arrived later, after a mismatch or a wait, close the case.
`Final Nonconfirmation`	E-Verify couldn't confirm the employee's eligibility after the referral process, or the employee chose not to take action.	Close the case and choose the closure statement about whether you'll keep employing them. If you will, E-Verify requires a reason.
`Close Case and Resubmit`	DHS or SSA needs a new case, often because passport, passport card, or driver's license details were entered wrong.	Close the case and run a new one from a new E-Verify task. See 📄 How to Re-Run an E-Verify Case After a Case Has Been Closed.

Closing cases

The E-Verify User Manual requires every case to be closed. The only one E-Verify closes for you is an Employment Authorized result that comes back right after submission. Everything else stays open until you close it from the E-Verify task, including a case that reaches Employment Authorized after a mismatch.

On your E-Verify case list, the Cases to be closed filter shows what's waiting on you, and Recently auto closed shows what E-Verify closed on its own. A closed case can't be reopened. Each E-Verify task carries exactly one case, so a new case always needs a new task.

If your account uses Onboarded's E-Verify account (Employer Agent) and E-Verify flags an open Final Nonconfirmation, Onboarded support may reach out to confirm whether the employee is still employed so the case can be closed with the right statement.

Example

Take an account that hires a warehouse associate who changed her last name after getting married. Section 2 is complete, and a manager creates the case from the E-Verify task. It comes back Tentative Nonconfirmation from SSA, because SSA still has her prior name.

The manager downloads the Further Action Notice from the task and reviews it with her privately. She decides to take action, so the manager refers the case and it moves to Referred. She visits an SSA office four days later, the status changes to Case in Continuance, and the following week it returns Employment Authorized. She works her normal schedule the entire time.

Because the result arrived after a mismatch, E-Verify doesn't close the case. It appears under Cases to be closed, and the manager closes it from the task that afternoon.