Check Your Own Work Eligibility Free with E-Verify, Age 18+
Anyone in the United States age 18 and over can use E-Verify’s Self Check to check their own employment eligibility for free; it compares your information with records available to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify says Self Check is voluntary, and employers may not require employees or job applicants to use it under any circumstances.
If there’s a mismatch, you get instructions to correct your records with the appropriate federal agency; a mismatch does not necessarily mean you aren’t authorized to work in the United States, and Self Check can’t change your citizenship or immigration status.
What Self Check is
E-Verify explains (E-Verify Self Check):
- Free and voluntary: Self Check is a free, voluntary and secure service for confirming your own employment eligibility.
- Who can use it: anyone in the United States age 18 and over.
- What it compares: government records available to DHS and SSA.
How to use it
- USCIS online account: myE-Verify asks you to create or sign in to a USCIS online account.
- Identity check: new users must pass an identity authentication quiz before getting access to all myE-Verify features.
If there’s a mismatch
- Correcting records: you get instructions for correcting your records with the appropriate federal agency.
- Not necessarily unable to work: a mismatch result does not necessarily mean you aren’t authorized to work in the United States.
- No status changes: Self Check doesn’t let you change your citizenship or immigration status.
What employers can’t do
- Can’t require it: employers may not require employees or job applicants to use Self Check or myE-Verify under any circumstances.
- No pre-screening: an employer asking you to show work authorization before you accept a job offer is “pre-screening,” which may violate the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- Employers still have to do their part: even if you used Self Check, the employer still has to complete Form I-9 and create an E-Verify case.
For which documents to bring on your first day at work, see New Job, I-9 Within 3 Days, Nonresidents Mark Single on W-4; for what you can show for the I-9 when your green card hasn’t arrived yet, see No Green Card Yet, Show I-94 With a Temporary Stamp for I-9.
What this article did not check
- Which agency to contact after a mismatch: the page only says “the appropriate federal agency” without naming one, so this article doesn’t either.
- How long a result stays valid: the page doesn’t say, so this article doesn’t either.
- Page date: this page is the July 2023 version; the agency’s current guidance takes precedence.
Frequently asked questions
Does Self Check cost anything?
No. E-Verify says Self Check is a free service.
How old do you have to be?
18 or older, and in the United States.
My new employer wants me to run Self Check and show them. Is that allowed?
No. E-Verify says employers may not require employees or job applicants to use Self Check under any circumstances.
I got a mismatch. Does that mean I can’t work?
Not necessarily. E-Verify says a mismatch doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t authorized to work in the United States; you’ll get instructions for correcting your records with the appropriate federal agency.
Sources and dates checked
All checked on 2026-10-31.
- E-Verify, Self Check (page updated 2023-07-19):https://www.e-verify.gov/mye-verify/self-check