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• E-Verify Resumes Operations
• DOS Announces New Policy for Immigrant Visa Interviews, Effective November 1

E-Verify Resumes Operations

On October 9, 2025, E-Verify announced that it has resumed operations after being offline from October 1–7, 2025 during the federal government shutdown. Employers who hired during this period must create E-Verify cases by Tuesday, October 14 for all affected employees. The downtime does not count toward standard case creation deadlines. The announcement also includes guidance on handling tentative nonconfirmations (TNCs), meeting federal contractor requirements, and applying the rules to both traditional E-Verify and E-Verify+ systems.

Employers should audit hires made between October 1–7, ensure cases are created by the deadline, and document the system outage in compliance files. Internal communication with HR, recruiting, and onboarding teams is essential to maintain consistency and reduce compliance risk.

Impact: The resumed operations mark a short but critical compliance window for employers. In-house mobility and immigration teams must act quickly to ensure adherence to E-Verify requirements and safeguard against potential audit exposure.

DOS Announces New Policy for Immigrant Visa Interviews, Effective November 1

Effective November 1, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) will require immigrant visa applicants to be interviewed in the consular district of their residence or, upon request, in their country of nationality, with limited exceptions. Applicants in countries where visa operations are suspended should apply at their designated immigrant visa processing post, unless they are nationals of another country with active operations.

Key Highlights:

• Existing Appointments: Will generally not be rescheduled or cancelled.
• Post-to-Post Transfers: Applicants must now contact the National Visa Center (NVC) via the Public Inquiry Form (not the consular post) to request a transfer after an interview is scheduled.
• Residence Requirement: Requests to interview outside one’s assigned consular district may trigger a request for proof of residence or justification for an exception.
• Exceptions: Granted only for humanitarian, medical, or foreign policy reasons.
• Diversity Visas: Policy applies to DV-2026 program year applicants.

Impact: This update reinforces DOS’s move toward residence-based jurisdiction and consistent case processing. In-house mobility and immigration teams should anticipate reduced flexibility in interview location choices and confirm that employees’ residence information is accurate in visa filings to avoid delays or transfer complications.