• Call 1-800-255-7688 for help Mon-Fri 9am-5pm ET.

IER’s hotline may be able to help if you’re having a problem when applying for jobs, based on your citizenship, immigration status, or national origin. Here are some examples of how IER has helped workers calling our hotline:

• IER helped someone granted asylum who initially wasn’t considered for a job because she wasn’t a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. IER contacted the company agency and explained that the Immigration and Nationality Act generally prohibits discrimination based on citizenship status in hiring unless required by law, regulation, executive order, or government contract. The staffing agency contacted the asylee and placed her back into consideration for the position. 
• IER helped a caller who was interested in a job advertised as only available to U.S. citizens. IER reached out to the recruiter and explained that a requirement for U.S. citizenship could be unlawful if there is no law, regulation, government contract, or executive order requiring the employer to limit consideration to U.S. citizens. The recruiter worked with the employer and determined there was no legal requirement for the citizenship requirement and removed the citizenship requirement from the advertisement. 
• IER helped a lawful permanent resident get his job offer back after his employer indicated it would suspend his offer because he was not a U.S. citizen. The employer believed U.S. citizenship was necessary for the position under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). IER contacted the company and clarified that the ITAR does not place any restrictions on U.S. persons’ access to export control items and that lawful permanent residents qualify as U.S. persons. IER ensured that the employer was aware of IER’s resources on ITAR/EAR and citizenship status discrimination. The employer extended the job offer to the caller again the next day.
• IER helped a worker with limited English proficiency obtain employment after she initially wasn’t allowed to apply because of her English language skills. The caller wanted to apply for a job with a processing plant in Oregon. The caller shared that a supervisor twice refused to give the caller an application because of her English-speaking skills. IER contacted the employer and shared information on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s and IER’s website about national origin discrimination. The employer subsequently determined that it would contact the worker for an interview, and then hired her for the position. 
• IER helped a U.S. citizen begin his job at a farm in Arizona. The caller interviewed for a job at a farm hundreds of miles from where he lived, so he sought housing on the farm similar to what the farm gave its workers with H-2A visas. However, the farm told the U.S. citizen that it lacked sufficient housing for him, and the farm did not want to displace any H-2A workers. IER contacted the farm and provided information about the H-2A program and the INA’s anti-discrimination provision. The farm decided to offer the caller a job with housing, and the caller started his job.

• Call 1-800-255-7688 for help Mon-Fri 9am-5pm ET.

IER’s hotline may be able to help if you’re having problems when you’re starting a job. Here are some examples of how we’ve helped callers to IER’s hotline:

Form I-9 Issues When Starting a New Job

IER receives calls about a wide variety of Form I-9 and document-related issues. IER regularly helps when employers request specific documents or reject valid documents during the Form I-9 process based on a worker’s citizenship, immigration status, or national origin.

• IER helped a worker in New York when her employer would not accept her automatically extended Employment Authorization Document (EAD). IER contacted the employer and provided information on these EAD extensions and the employer decided to accept the caller’s documentation and reinstate the caller.
• IER helped someone granted asylum start their job. The caller showed her State ID and unrestricted Social Security card for the Form I-9, but her employer told the caller she had to show a document proving her immigration status. IER explained to the employer that all workers choose which valid documentation to show for the Form I-9 and that someone can decide to show a State ID and unrestricted Social Security card for the Form I-9, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. The employer decided to accept the caller’s documentation and not ask for any additional documents.
• IER helped a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiary from Honduras start her job by explaining to her Texas employer that TPS Honduras Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) had been extended past the expiration date listed on the EADs. The caller had been told she needed to provide other work authorization documents. IER contacted the employer and was able provide information about TPS and EAD extensions. The employer subsequently allowed the caller to begin work.
• IER helped a worker granted asylum start his job. The caller presented a List B identity document and a Form I-94 showing the caller had been granted asylum as a List C document but the employer rejected his documentation and requested that the worker provide his Social Security card instead. IER explained to the employer that asylees can use their I-94s as a List C document and that employers must allow all workers to present any acceptable document(s) from the Form I-9 Lists of Acceptable Documents. The employer decided to accept the asylee I-94 as a List C document.
• IER helped a Ukrainian humanitarian parolee in Maryland whose employer at first rejected the caller’s Form I-9 documentation. The company wouldn’t accept the caller’s I-94 as a List A receipt, which is valid for 90 days from the start of work. IER provided the company information from the Department of Homeland Security about Ukrainian humanitarian parolee I-94s and the caller resumed the onboarding process.

E-Verify Issues

E-Verify is a web-based service administered by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration that some employers use to electronically verify their employees’ permission to work in the United States. IER helps workers whose employers may have unlawfully discriminated against them in the E-Verify process because of their citizenship, immigration status, or national origin or citizenship status, whose employers misused E-Verify, or who have lost their jobs in connection with an employer not follow the E-Verify process.

IER helped a U.S. citizen in Tennessee get back to work. The caller received an E-Verify Final Nonconfirmation and called IER for help because she believed the result wasn’t correct. The employer fired her, even though it had not provided the caller the instructions to resolve the E-Verify mismatch. An IER staffer called the employer to share E-Verify’s instructions for how employers should handle E-Verify mismatches, including providing employees the instructions they need to contact the appropriate government agency to resolve the mismatch. The employer invited the worker back to work and she accepted.

Starting a New Job While Waiting for Your Social Security Number

IER helped an Afghan humanitarian parolee start his new job. The caller presented his Employment Authorization Document (EAD) for the Form I-9, but the caller’s employer would not continue onboarding the worker because he had not been issued a Social Security number. IER sent the company several federal government resources regarding hiring and onboarding workers who are still waiting for their Social Security numbers, and the company decided to do paper-based payroll processing for anyone who could complete the Form I-9 but was still waiting for a Social Security number, until its payroll software could be updated to no longer require a Social Security number to enter new employees. The worker finalized the onboarding process.

IER helped three people with refugee status start their jobs at a maintenance company. The callers completed the Form I-9 process but could not begin work because the company’s criminal background check process required them provide a Social Security number and they had not yet been issued their numbers. IER contacted the company and provided information about the vetting people admitted to the United States as refugees undergo before their arrival. The company worked directly with the callers’ refugee service provider to address the issue and the callers passed the criminal background check and began work.

• Call 1-800-255-7688 for help Mon-Fri 9am-5pm ET.

Form I-9 Reverification

IER's hotline may be able to help if you're having a problem when your employer is checking your permission to work after you've already started your job. This is sometimes called "reverifying" your permission to work. Here are some examples of how IER has helped workers callings our hotline:

• IER helped a lawful permanent resident in Texas whose employer was asking the caller to show new documentation when the caller’s Permanent Resident Card expired. IER shared information with the employer from the Department of Homeland Security explaining an employer shouldn’t ask for more documentation if a lawful permanent resident decides to show a Permanent Resident Card and the card later expires. The employer decided not to ask for more documents and the caller continued working.
• IER helped a survivor of domestic violence with a U Visa keep working at her job in Wisconsin. The caller’s employer told her she would have to stop working if she could not provide new documentation showing her permission to work in the United States. IER provided the company information about documentation that certain U visa holders can provide to show their continued work authorization and the employer decided to allow the caller to show her valid documentation and continue working without interruption. 
• IER helped a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiary from Venezuela who had been notified she would be terminated based on an expiring Employment Authorization Document (EAD), even though the caller’s EAD was automatically extended. IER contacted the Florida employer and provided information about automatic work extensions for certain TPS recipients. The company decided to accept the caller’s EAD and the caller continued to work.
• IER helped a worker granted asylum return to his job in Nevada after the hotel where the caller worked at first refused to accept the caller’s unrestricted Social Security card during the reverification process. The IER attorney called the employer and explained that an unrestricted Social Security card is sufficient for Form I-9 reverification, and the hotel decided to accept the asylee’s documentation and he returned to work.

• Call 1-800-255-7688 for help Mon-Fri 9am-5pm ET.

IER can sometimes help you resolve an issue getting a government ID because, for example, the office issuing the ID isn’t familiar with the type of immigration document you’re showing. Here are examples of how IER can help:

• IER helped someone with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Syria to renew his driver’s license. The Department of Motor Vehicles in his state would not accept his Employment Authorization Document (EAD) since his EAD listed an expiration date that had passed. IER contacted the Department of Motor Vehicles and provided information on TPS and EAD extensions. The Department of Motor Vehicles decided that this documentation met its requirements and the TPS beneficiary continued in the process and renew his driver’s license.
• IER help six people granted refugee start their jobs at an airport. The callers initially couldn’t get badges from the airport where their jobs were located because they didn’t have Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), even though they had shown other documentation to prove their identity and permission to work in the United States. IER provided the airport authority information on the types of documentation refugees might show to establish their identity and permission to work, and the badging office determined the callers’ documentation met its requirements and issued their badges, so they could access their worksites.
• IER helped a worker granted asylum in the United States get an unrestricted Social Security card. The caller had tried to get an unrestricted Social Security card with her Form I-94 showing the caller had been granted asylum but was unsuccessful. IER contacted the Social Security Administration which looked into the situation and decided the caller’s I-94 met its requirements and issued the caller an unrestricted Social Security card.