The consequences of an E-Verify no-show are swift on both sides: the mismatch becomes a Final Nonconfirmation (FNC), the employer gains legal cover to terminate the worker with no civil or criminal liability, and the employee loses the job with no appeal route inside E-Verify. Keep the worker on after that point and the employer inherits a fresh set of federal penalties. That is the short answer, and the rest of this article walks through what each side actually faces.
How a No-Show Happens
A no-show is a missed deadline, not a bad verification result. When E-Verify returns a mismatch, the employer gives the worker a Further Action Notice, and the worker has 10 federal government working days from the date the mismatch was issued to say whether they intend to take action. Silence past day 10 lets the employer close the case, and the result converts to a Final Nonconfirmation.1E-Verify. E-Verify User Manual – 3.6 Final Nonconfirmation
There is a second path to the same outcome. A worker who tells the employer they want to contest the mismatch then has eight federal government working days after referral to contact DHS or visit an SSA field office. Missing that follow-through deadline also produces a Final Nonconfirmation.2E-Verify. How Many Days Does My Employee Have to Take Action on Their Mismatch Either way, the case closes as unresolved and every protection the worker had during the contest window disappears at once.3E-Verify. Tentative Nonconfirmations (Mismatches)
What the Employee Loses
Termination is the standard result. There is no appeal of an FNC inside E-Verify, and the system does not offer a formal process to reopen a case that has already reached Final Nonconfirmation status. The worker walks away with a closed case, no job, and no route back through the same file.
The problem often follows the worker to the next hire. Every new employer runs a fresh E-Verify case against the worker’s I-9 data, so whatever caused the first mismatch, an outdated name after marriage, an unreported citizenship change, a wrong date of birth in SSA records, will trigger the same mismatch again. The fix has to happen at the source: correct the record directly with SSA or DHS before starting the next job. Doing so does not undo the earlier FNC, but it stops the same problem from repeating.
An FNC by itself does not trigger deportation proceedings. It can, however, put a worker who is genuinely unauthorized on the radar of immigration enforcement, and DHS retains broad authority to investigate worksite violations.4U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 11.8 Penalties for Prohibited Practices
What the Employer Gets if They Terminate
The E-Verify user manual states that the employer “may terminate employment based on a case result of Final Nonconfirmation with no civil or criminal liability.”1E-Verify. E-Verify User Manual – 3.6 Final Nonconfirmation That safe harbor is the whole point of running E-Verify, and most employers act on it immediately.
The safe harbor comes with conditions. Apply the termination policy uniformly to every worker who receives an FNC; selective enforcement based on national origin, citizenship status, or other protected characteristics creates discrimination liability. Record the E-Verify case number on the corresponding Form I-9 and retain the form for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 10.0 Retaining Form I-9 Document the dates the Further Action Notice was delivered and the worker’s response, or the absence of one. That paper trail is what protects the termination if it is later challenged.
What the Employer Gets if They Keep the Worker
The word “may” in the user manual is real. An employer can choose to continue employing someone after an FNC, but the cost changes immediately. The MOU requires notice to DHS, and failing to give that notice carries a civil penalty between $998 and $1,992 per individual as of the 2025 inflation adjustment.6Federal Register. Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustments for 2025
Bigger than the notice penalty is what continued employment implies. Keeping a worker on after an FNC creates a rebuttable presumption that the employer knowingly employs an unauthorized worker.7E-Verify. The E-Verify Memorandum of Understanding for Employers Once that presumption attaches, the INA penalties for knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized worker come into play, per unauthorized employee, adjusted for inflation as of July 3, 2025:
- First order: $716 to $5,724
- Second order: $5,724 to $14,308
- Third or subsequent order: $8,586 to $28,619
Because these fines are per worker, an employer sitting on multiple unresolved FNC cases sees the numbers stack fast. A pattern or practice of violations can also produce criminal exposure, including fines of up to $3,000 per unauthorized worker and up to six months imprisonment.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1324a – Unlawful Employment of Aliens
I-9 paperwork violations are a separate track with their own fines of $288 to $2,861 per affected individual.6Federal Register. Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustments for 2025 Not closing an E-Verify case after the 10-day period, skipping the TNC notification process, or failing to retain required records can each qualify. Federal contractors face the additional risk of debarment from future government contracts.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Penalties
Employers who ignore the process side entirely can lose access to the system. Failing to close cases within the 10-day window or failing to act on FNC results are MOU violations that can escalate to termination of the employer’s E-Verify account.10E-Verify. E-Verify Requirement – Employer Action Required on Tentative Nonconfirmations Within 10 Federal Government Working Days
How to Avoid the No-Show Outcome
If you are the employee, respond within the 10-day window even if you do not yet know how to fix the underlying issue. Telling the employer you intend to take action preserves your right to contact SSA or DHS. Once the window closes, nothing rewinds it. If you already know your SSA record carries outdated information from a prior name or a citizenship change, correct it before your next start date.
If you are the employer, the compliance risk you can actually control is your own follow-through. Close the case in E-Verify on time, deliver the Further Action Notice with a dated record of receipt, and treat every FNC the same way across your workforce. The worker who ghosts is not usually what generates penalties. The employer who forgets to close the case, or lets the worker keep clocking in, is.