Since 1986, employers in the United States have been required to confirm work authorization and verify the identity of their employees whether they are US citizens or foreign nationals. To do so, employers and employees must complete the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification—which has recently been revised and updated—within the first three business days of the commencement of employment. E-Verify, launched in 1997, was created to add another level of verification. E-Verify is a voluntary (for most) and free, Internet-based system that compares information from an employee's Form I-9 to data from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records to confirm employment eligibility. Over 600,000 companies are currently enrolled in E-Verify with more than 1,400 new participating companies every week.

This is, of course, more secure than the red ink.

After changing the color of the US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) Request for Evidence pages from blue to yellow, I-797 receipt notices from swirly paper (an industry term) to white, and redesigning the Green Card so that it is actually green, USCIS has announced another major design change: this time from red to blue. Effective July 1, 2014, USCIS is now reporting, the "older secure red ink was retired" and they began using a "new secure blue ink" for some immigration stamps, including:

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Parole Stamp;
Temporary I-551 Alien Documentary Identification and Telecommunication (ADIT) Stamp;
Refugee Stamp (Section 207);
Asylum Stamp (Section 208); and
Initial / Replacement Form I-94 Stamp.

USCIS advises that employers should be aware of this change when examining employee documents during the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification process. USCIS also notes that employers "must accept the documents presented by a worker when completing Form I-9 as long as those documents appear genuine on their face and relate to the person presenting them."

We will keep our readers updated on any future major design changes.