Employers in Miami, Florida, are not allowed to discriminate against you based on immigration status. However, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services explains that they do have authorization to check your eligibility to work using information provided on Form I-9, the Employment Eligibility Verification Form. This form was discussed in more detail in a previous post. At Cuevas and Garcia, P.A., Attorneys at Law, we often answer questions about the employment process for immigrants living in the United States.
To help employers confirm that you are legally able to work, the federal government has created an Internet-based E-Verify system that compares data you provided on your Form I-9 between the following agencies:
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- Department of State (DOS)
Each of these agencies should have information about your immigration status, and as long as it is current and correct, a positive result is provided to your employer.
If the information you provided on Form I-9 does not match in the agency records, your employer will receive a Tentative Nonconfirmation, or TNC. You cannot be fired based on this initial result, but to keep your job you will have to take steps to fix whatever issue caused the TNC response. This could be something as simple as a name or address change. Your employer can fire you if you do not contest the TNC.
One of your responsibilities as an immigrant in the United States is making sure that all of your documents are correct. To learn more about immigration visas, please visit our Web page.
