In its annual E-Verify records disposal, USCIS will permanently dispose of E-Verify case records last updated on or before December 31, 2016, on January 11, 2027. Employers have until January 8, 2027, to download records for those cases through the Historical Records Report in their E-Verify account. Employers that have used E-Verify since 2016 or earlier should have a program administrator download and securely save the report now, and confirm that each affected Form I-9 shows the E-Verify case verification number or has the case details page attached.

What Is the January 2027 E-Verify Records Disposal?

USCIS has announced its annual disposal of older E-Verify records. The disposal is required by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) records schedule that governs E-Verify. According to the E-Verify Records Retention and Disposal Fact Sheet, USCIS disposes of E-Verify employer records that are 10 years old or older each year under NARA schedule N1-566-08-7, a practice USCIS says reduces the security and privacy risks of the government keeping personally identifiable information.

This year’s cycle covers cases last updated on or before December 31, 2016. The key dates are:

- Friday, January 8, 2027: last day to download the Historical Records Report for these cases.
- Monday, January 11, 2027: USCIS disposes of the records.

This is not a new policy. USCIS has run this process every year for more than a decade. The first downloadable report was introduced in 2015 for records dated on or before December 31, 2004, and each year another year of case data drops off. What changes each year is the cutoff date and the deadline.

What the Historical Records Report Contains

Only a company’s program administrator or corporate administrator can download the report. According to USCIS’s fact sheet, the report includes the company name and location, the case initiation date and verification case number, the employee’s name and date of initial resolution, the date of any additional resolution and final status, and the case closure date and description.

USCIS’s download instructions state that the report does not include sensitive employee information such as Social Security numbers or document numbers. It does, however, include employee names and case outcomes, so it should be stored securely.

The download itself is simple. In E-Verify, the user selects “Reports,” runs the Historic Records report, and saves the result as an Excel file.

Who Is Affected?

The disposal matters mainly to:

- Long-time E-Verify employers that created cases in 2016 or earlier, including federal contractors and employers in states that require E-Verify.
- Employers with long-tenured employees hired and verified in 2016 or earlier. Their Forms I-9 must still be retained for as long as they remain employed, but the government’s copy of the E-Verify case will soon be gone.
- E-Verify employer agents. Agents that also use E-Verify as an employer will receive a single report covering both client and employee cases tied to the agent ID.
- Companies that acquired other businesses and inherited the acquired company’s workforce and Forms I-9.
- Employers that enrolled in E-Verify after 2016 are not affected this cycle. A report is generated only when the account has cases 10 years or older.

What This Means in Practice

The employer’s own records become the only record. After January 11, 2027, USCIS will no longer hold the case data for these cases. If an employer later needs to show that it ran E-Verify for a particular employee, and what the result was (for example, in a Form I-9 inspection, a discrimination inquiry, or a dispute over a former employee’s records), it will have to rely on what is in its own files.

The Form I-9 annotation requirement is the more important obligation. The USCIS notice says employers that have not already done so must record the E-Verify case verification number on each corresponding Form I-9 or attach a copy of the case details page. Downloading the Historical Records Report is the practical way to fix gaps before the data disappears. An employer that finds Forms I-9 without case numbers can use the report to complete the record.

Disposal does not change Form I-9 retention rules. Federal regulations at 8 C.F.R. § 274a.2(b)(2) require employers to keep a Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later, and for the entire period of employment (see USCIS’s Handbook for Employers M-274, Section 10.0). USCIS’s disposal of its own records does not shorten that obligation, and it does not authorize employers to purge their Forms I-9.

Check every account. The report shows only cases associated with the Employer or E-Verify Employer Agent ID of the user account. Employers with multiple E-Verify accounts, hiring sites, or corporate administrator structures should confirm the report has been run for each relevant account, not just the headquarters account.

Do not plan around an extension. Last cycle, USCIS extended its deadline, ultimately giving employers until January 22, 2026, to download records for cases last updated on or before December 31, 2015. There is no indication that USCIS will do the same this year. With the deadline falling just after the holidays, the safest course is to download the report in the fourth quarter of 2026.

What Should Employers Do Now?

1. Identify who holds the program administrator or corporate administrator role in each E-Verify account.
2. Run and save the Historical Records Report for each account before January 8, 2027.
3. Store the report securely with, or cross-referenced to, the corresponding Forms I-9. USCIS says employers should retain the report with the Forms I-9.
4. Spot-check Forms I-9 for employees hired in 2016 or earlier who are still employed (or whose I-9 retention period has not expired) to confirm the case verification number is recorded or the case details page is attached.
5. Use the report to correct missing annotations, and document the correction in the ordinary way.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will USCIS delete the old E-Verify records?

USCIS will dispose of E-Verify records for cases last updated on or before December 31, 2016, on January 11, 2027. The download deadline is January 8, 2027.

Who can download the Historical Records Report?

A company’s E-Verify program administrator or corporate administrator. General users should coordinate with an administrator.

Does the report contain Social Security numbers?

No. According to USCIS, the report excludes Social Security numbers and document numbers but does include employee names and case information.

If USCIS deletes its records, can we discard our old Forms I-9?

No. Form I-9 retention is governed separately: for current employees, for the entire period of employment; for former employees, the later of three years after hire or one year after employment ends.

We started using E-Verify in 2018. Do we need to do anything?

Not for this cycle. The report generates only if the account has cases 10 years old or older. These employers will be affected in later years as their cases age.

Bottom Line

The January 2027 E-Verify disposal is routine, but the consequence is permanent: after January 11, 2027, USCIS will no longer hold case data for cases last updated in 2016 or earlier. Employers that have used E-Verify for a decade or more should download the Historical Records Report now and use it to confirm that their Forms I-9 are properly annotated. Employers with multiple accounts, acquired workforces, or gaps in their I-9 files may want to have their Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance practices reviewed by experienced counsel before the deadline.

Published by Sam Shihab, Esq.
Partner at Shihab Burke, LLC