Supporting Statement 12-21-10

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

E-Verify Self Check Program

OMB No. 1615-NEW

Justification:

1. The E-Verify program allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility status of newly hired employees by matching information provided by employees on the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, against existing information contained in the Verification Information System, a database that matches the information provided against the information contained by both the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The authority for the E-Verify program is contained in section 404 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA)) Public Law 104–208.
   
   USCIS is developing a Self Check service to allow U.S. workers to enter data into the E-Verify system to ensure that the information relating to their eligibility to work is correct and accurate. This is necessary so that U.S. workers can correct their records before a hiring decision is made. This will lead to a more reliable and accurate E-Verify system that works better for both employers and employees.

2. E-Verify self check uses a Web-based interface that will be accessible to all U.S. workers. The information collected will only be used to confirm the identity of the user and determine whether the user would be employment authorized in the E-Verify system.

A U.S. worker has no requirement to use E-Verify Self Check as it is a free, voluntary service offered by the government to provide information to the user about his/her employment eligibility. The U.S. worker who conducts an E-Verify Self Check will not need to register or create an account. The E-Verify Self Check user will be required to agree to “Terms of Use” detailed on the E-Verify Self Check Web site before he or she will be allowed to begin the E-Verify Self Check process. The “Terms of Use” will detail the restrictions on E-Verify Self Check use (i.e. you may only run a Self Check query on your own information, no one can require you to use E-Verify Self Check, etc.) and detail the privacy and security protections on all data provided.

In order to check employment eligibility using E-Verify Self Check, a user will first

enter minimal biographical information (name, address, date of birth, and optional social security number). To authenticate the user’s identity the information will be sent to a 3rd party identity authentication service that will then generate a series of questions back to the user. The user will then have to correctly answer the questions before continuing the process. The exact questions generated will be unique to each user. The following is a sample of the category of questions:

• Address

• SSN state of issue

• SSN last four digits

• Phone Number

• Employer

• Household

• Personal Property

• Driver’s License

• Credit questions relating to:

• Mortgage/ Home Equity Loan

• Auto Loan

• Personal Installment Loan

• Student Loan

• Gas Card

Terms used in this supporting statement:

• ID Authentication Check - This includes reading the “Terms of Use,” entering

the initial personal information, and responding to questions generated by a 3^rd party identity authentication service.

• Self Check Query - This includes entering information from employment

documents such as a resident alien card and correcting information that may have been entered incorrectly.

• Further Action Pursued - This includes visiting a SSA office or calling a DHS status verifier depending on whether the user receives an SSA or DHS record mismatch.

3. All information for E-Verify Self Check will be collected electronically through a Web-based portal in order to minimize the burden placed on the public in determining their employment eligibility. This method provides the most efficient means for collecting and processing the required data.

4. A review of USCIS’ Forms Inventory Report revealed no duplication of effort, and there is no other similar information currently available that can be used for this purpose.

5. This collection of information does not have any significant impact on small businesses. As previously stated, E-Verify Self Check is a voluntary service for those U.S. workers wishing to participate. This service is intended to benefit U.S. workers by allowing them to quickly verify whether they are legally eligible to work.

6. If this information collection is not conducted a U.S. worker will not be able to access the E-Verify system to ensure that the information relating to his or her eligibility to work is correct and accurate.

7. The special circumstances contained in item 7 of the supporting statement are not applicable to this information collection.

8. USCIS published a 60-day notice in the Federal Register on October 1, 2010, at 75 FR 60771. USCIS published a 30-day notice in the Federal Register on December 14, 2010, at 75 FR 77891. USCIS received comments from three commenters on the 60-day notice. These comments and USCIS’s response can be viewed as an attachment to this supporting statement.

9. USCIS does not provide payments or gifts to respondents in exchange for a benefit sought.

10. The Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-589) mandates that personal information solicited from individuals completing Federal records and forms must be kept confidential. The user is informed that the response is voluntary and that only authorized agency officials will have access to these records. The system used to support the E-Verify Program and E-Verify Self Check is operated and maintained according to Department of Homeland Security and privacy requirements. As part of the E-Verify Self Check program, users of the service may be asked questions related to available public/private non-governmental information (i.e. which of these addresses have you lived at, which of these is a recent phone number of yours, etc.) that will be randomly generated by a 3rd party independent identity authentication service. These questions have hundreds of iterations and are solely meant to authenticate the identity of the user as required under government security regulations. The government will at no time have access to the information provided to the 3^rd party identity authentication service, the questions it generates, or the answers provided, nor will the government retain or have access to any of this information through 3rd party agreements after the transaction has taken place.

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature

12. Annual Reporting Burden

	ID Authentication Check	Self Check Query	Further Action Pursued
Average Annual # of Respondents (workers)	2,900,000	2,175,000	5,582
# of responses	1	1	1
Average Annual # of responses	2,900,000	2,175,000	5,582
Hours per Response	.0833	.0833	1.183
Total Average Annual Reporting Burden	241,570	181,178	6,604

The projected hours per response for this collection of information were derived as follows:

• Completing the ID Authentication Check

(This includes reading the “Terms of Use,” entering

the initial personal information and responding to questions

generated by a 3^rd party identity authentication service) 5 Minutes

• Completing the Self Check Query

(This includes entering information from employment

documents such as a resident alien card and correcting

information that may have been entered incorrectly) 5 Minutes

• Further Action Pursued

(This includes visiting an SSA field office or

calling a DHS status verifier to update the user’s record. 1 Hour 11 Minutes

Annual Reporting Burden

Total annual reporting burden hours for E-Verify Self Check is 429,352. This figure was derived by:

• Multiplying the number of Self Check users completing the ID authentication request (2,900,000) x (1) number of responses x .0833 (5 Minutes) per response = 241,570.

• Multiplying the number of users performing a Self Check query (not all Self Check users will have their identity authenticated and be able to use Self Check, and some will drop out of the process before completing ID authentication) (2,175,000) x (1) number of responses x .0833 (5 minutes) per response = 181,178.

• Multiplying the number of Self Check users who receive a mismatch from their employment authorization query and choose to pursue the correction of their records with the appropriate agency (SSA or DHS) (5,582) x (1) number of responses x 1.183 (1 hour and 11 minutes) = 6,604.

These estimates were obtained by taking the total civilian labor population in the five states that currently have the highest number of E-Verify queries (AZ, CA, FL, MS, TX) and estimating the percentage of workers in those states that might be inclined to use the Self Check Service.

13. There are no capital or stat up costs associated with this information collection.

14. Government Cost: The estimated cost to the Government for E-Verify Self Check is $2,186,224. This figure is calculated by:

• Multiplying the total estimated number of Self Check users completing the ID authentication request (2,900,000) x $.70 (estimated average cost per identity authentication query) = $2,030,000.

• Multiplying the number of users pursuing further action at SSA 3,017 x $46 (cost per SSA mismatch that a U.S. Worker chooses to resolve) = $138,782.

• Multiplying the number of users pursing further action with DHS 2,565 x $6.80 (cost per DHS tentative non-confirmation resolution) = $17,442.

Public Cost: The estimated annual burden cost to the public is $12,833,300. This figure is calculated by:

• Multiplying the total estimated number of Self Check users completing the ID authentication request (2,900,000) x (1) number of responses x .0833 (5 minutes per response) x $29.89 (average hourly rate = $7,220,527.

• Multiplying the number of users performing a Self Check query (2,175,000) x (1) number of responses x .0833 (5 minutes) per response x $29.89 (average hourly rate = $5,415,395.

• Multiplying the number of users pursuing further action at DHS and SSA (5,582) x (1) number of responses x 1.183 (1 hour and 11 minutes per response) x $29.89 (Average hourly rate) = $197,378.

15. Since this is a new information collection there is an increase to the OMB inventory of 429,352 annual burden hours.

16. USCIS does not intend to employ the use of statistics or the publication thereof for this collection of data.

17. USCIS will display the expiration date of OMB approval for this information collection.

18. USCIS does not request an exception to the certification of this information collection.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

Not applicable

C. Certification and Signature

PAPERWORK CERTIFICATIONS

In submitting this request for OMB approval, I certify that the requirements of the Privacy Act and OMB directives have been complied with including paperwork regulations, statistical standards or directives, and any other information policy directives promulgated under 5 CFR 1320.

____________________________ ___________________

Sunday Aigbe, Date

Chief,

Regulatory Products Division,

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.