On June 11, 2008, then President George W. Bush amended Executive Order 12989 to direct all federal departments and agencies to require contractors to use an electronic employment eligibility verification system to verify the employment authorization of employees performing work under a federal contract. The DHS designated E-Verify as the electronic employment eligibility verification system that all federal contractors must use.

Formerly referred to as the Basic Pilot Program, E-Verify is an Internet-based system operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA). E-Verify is voluntary and free to employers and provides an automatic link to federal databases to help employers determine employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security numbers. E-Verify works by electronically comparing the information on an employee’s Form I-9 with SSA and DHS records to verify the identity and employment eligibility of newly hired employees.

On September 17th, 2018, E-Verify expanded to access Department of Motor Vehicles records. Now, if an employee presents a driver's license or state ID card as a list B document and if the document is issued by one of the states and territories under E-Verify's expanded access, E-Verify will prompt the user to enter the document information. E-Verify is using this process to prepare for an expansion of driver's license and state ID verification capabilities.