What it means, plainly
A Tentative Nonconfirmation means the information you entered into E-Verify didn't immediately match Social Security Administration or Department of Homeland Security records. It is not a finding that someone is unauthorized to work, and it is not grounds for any adverse action on its own. It's a mismatch, and the employee gets a defined process to resolve it.
The most common causes are mundane: a recent legal name change not yet updated in SSA's records, a data entry typo on either end, or a DHS record that simply hasn't caught up with a recent immigration status change. It happens to authorized workers regularly enough that treating it as a red flag from the start is the wrong instinct.
The process, step by step
- You notify the employee, privately, promptly. Not in front of coworkers. E-Verify generates a notice, and you review it with the employee and give them a copy.
- The employee decides whether to contest. This is their choice, not yours. If they choose not to contest, their employment can be terminated without further liability under E-Verify rules. If they choose to contest, the clock starts.
- They get roughly eight federal government working days to visit an SSA field office or contact DHS to resolve the mismatch — “federal government working days” excludes weekends and federal holidays, and isn't the same count as calendar business days.
- You cannot take adverse action while that's pending. No termination, no suspension, no reduction in hours, and you can't require the employee to work reduced duties because of the unresolved case. The one exception: standard onboarding and training can proceed normally.
- SSA or DHS resolves it and E-Verify updates the case. If the mismatch clears, the result becomes Employment Authorized and the case closes. If it doesn't clear within the window, E-Verify issues a Final Nonconfirmation.
While a TNC is pending
No adverse action
You cannot fire, suspend, or otherwise penalize an employee for an unresolved TNC while they're still inside their window to contest it. Acting early is the mistake that turns a routine mismatch into a discrimination claim.
Final Nonconfirmation: what actually changes
A Final Nonconfirmation means the mismatch wasn't resolved within the process — either the employee didn't contest, or contested and the agencies still couldn't confirm authorization. At that point you may terminate employment, and doing so is protected from certain liability claims specifically because you followed the E-Verify process correctly. What you can't do is skip straight to termination the moment the initial TNC appears, or penalize someone who's still inside their contest window — both undo the legal protection the process is designed to give you.
The part that trips employers up
E-Verify enrollment and use come with their own set of rules independent of the TNC process itself — consistency across employees, timing requirements for when you initiate a case, and recordkeeping obligations. And a TNC only exists downstream of a correctly completed I-9 in the first place; if the initial data entry into E-Verify was wrong, that's worth checking before assuming the mismatch is the employee's issue. See how the I-9 and E-Verify process fits together for the full sequence, and I-9 reverification rules for the separate question of what happens when authorization expires later rather than at hire.
If you're verifying employees you never meet in person, the remote I-9 process runs through the same E-Verify enrollment requirement this page assumes.