Is E-Verify Mandatory in Georgia? Who Must Enroll and Penalties

Yes, E-Verify is mandatory in Georgia for most employers. State law requires every public employer, every contractor and subcontractor on a public project worth more than $2,499.99 in labor or services, and every private employer with more than ten qualifying employees to enroll in the federal E-Verify system and use it for new hires. Private employers also have to file an affidavit tied to E-Verify every time they obtain or renew a business license or occupational tax certificate, so the requirement reaches almost every business that operates at any scale in the state.

Who Has to Enroll

Two Georgia statutes create the mandate. O.C.G.A. § 13-10-91 covers the public side, and O.C.G.A. § 36-60-6 covers private employers.

Public Employers

State agencies, counties, and municipalities must register for E-Verify and run it on all newly hired employees. They also have to publish their E-Verify user identification number and authorization date on their website. Local governments without a website submit that information to the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia for public posting.¹

Public Contractors and Subcontractors

A public employer cannot award a contract for the physical performance of services unless the contractor is enrolled in E-Verify, and the threshold that triggers coverage is any contract where labor or services exceed $2,499.99.² Before a bid is even considered, the contractor submits a signed, notarized affidavit confirming enrollment, listing the user identification number and authorization date, and pledging to use only subcontractors who supply the same affidavit. Subcontractors have to file their own affidavits with the contractor at the time of contracting.¹

One narrow carve-out: contracts between a public employer and an individual who personally holds a license under Title 26 (food, drugs, and cosmetics), Title 43 (professions and businesses), or the State Bar of Georgia are not treated as “physical performance of services.” Those individual licensees don’t file the affidavit. The exemption stops at the individual and does not extend to a firm that employs licensed professionals.²

Private Employers With More Than Ten Employees

Every private employer with more than ten employees has to register for and use E-Verify. For this rule, an “employee” is someone who works at least 35 hours per week and whose employer withholds FICA or income taxes or issues a W-2. Independent contractors who receive a 1099 do not count.³

The count is company-wide, not Georgia-only. A business with twelve full-time employees split across three states still crosses the threshold. The number is measured as of January 1 of the year you submit your affidavit.⁴ Employers with ten or fewer qualifying employees are exempt from the enrollment mandate itself, but they still have paperwork to file.

The Affidavit That Ties E-Verify to Your Business License

Before any Georgia county or municipality issues or renews a business license, occupational tax certificate, or other document required to operate a business, the applicant submits an affidavit on a form provided by the Georgia Attorney General.³

Employers with more than ten employees use the affidavit to confirm enrollment in E-Verify and list their user identification number and authorization date. Employers with ten or fewer employees use the same form but check a different box, attesting that the E-Verify requirement does not apply to them. Every business files something. There is no version where you skip the affidavit and still get a license.⁴

Submitting a false or misleading affidavit is treated as filing a false document under O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20, which is a criminal offense. A government official who knowingly violates the affidavit provisions can face misdemeanor charges. The statute does provide a good-faith defense: a reasonable attempt to comply shields you from liability.³

What Non-Compliance Costs

The consequences hit at two levels, and the state-level ones usually arrive first because they attach directly to your ability to operate.

State-Level Consequences

For a private employer, the practical penalty is that you cannot obtain or renew a business license or occupational tax certificate without the affidavit. Miss the requirement and your license lapses. File a false affidavit and you’re facing a criminal charge under Georgia’s false documents statute.³

For public employers, the state auditor reviews compliance. A political subdivision found in violation gets 30 days to correct all deficiencies. If it fails, it loses its place on the qualified local governments list under Chapter 8 of Title 50 until it demonstrates compliance, and the violation is posted on the state’s transparency website. A state department or agency found in violation twice within five years has its appropriations for the following fiscal year capped at 90 percent of what was allocated during the second year of non-compliance.¹

Federal Consequences

E-Verify sits on top of the Form I-9, so an audit prompted by sloppy E-Verify practice often turns up I-9 problems. For 2026, paperwork violations (incomplete or incorrectly completed forms) range from $288 to $2,861 per form. Knowingly hiring an unauthorized worker starts at $716 per worker for a first offense and climbs to $28,619 per worker for a third or subsequent offense. ICE weighs business size, good-faith compliance efforts, seriousness of the violation, and prior history when setting the specific amount.

Minor technical errors, such as a missing middle initial or a wrong date format, get a 10-business-day correction window before any fine is assessed. Criminal penalties, including fines up to $3,000 per unauthorized worker and up to six months of imprisonment, can apply when ICE identifies a pattern or practice of violations.

How to Enroll and Run a Verification

Enrollment happens on the E-Verify website. You select “Enroll Now,” review and accept the Memorandum of Understanding, and enter your legal business name, Employer Identification Number, physical and mailing addresses, and number of employees. The process has to be completed in a single session, so gather everything before you start.⁵ You designate a program administrator during registration; after the Department of Homeland Security reviews the application, that person receives setup instructions and a mandatory online tutorial.

A business that would rather not run verifications in-house can hire an E-Verify Employer Agent to create and manage cases on its behalf. The underlying legal obligations still belong to the employer.⁶

Every new hire completes Form I-9 on or before their first day of work. You then create the E-Verify case no later than the third business day after the employee starts work for pay, using the information from the I-9. One difference matters: a Social Security number is optional on a standalone I-9, but it is mandatory for E-Verify.⁷

Federal rules require you to retain each Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Record the E-Verify case verification number on the I-9 or attach a printed copy of the case details page.⁸ Public employers keep contractor and subcontractor affidavits for five years from receipt.¹

The Mistakes That Get Compliant Employers in Trouble

You can be fully enrolled in E-Verify and still land in serious trouble by using it the wrong way. Federal law prohibits running a verification on a job applicant. E-Verify is only for people who have already accepted an offer and completed a Form I-9. Pre-screening is illegal regardless of intent.⁹

You also have to use the system consistently. Selectively verifying employees based on appearance, accent, national origin, or citizenship status violates the Immigration and Nationality Act’s anti-discrimination provision, which carries civil penalties of $100 to $1,000 per person discriminated against.¹⁰ And you cannot demand specific documents. If an employee presents a valid document from the Form I-9 acceptable documents list, you accept it. Asking for a green card after the employee has already produced a valid driver’s license and Social Security card is document abuse, and the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section investigates these cases and secures settlements requiring back pay, revised hiring policies, and mandatory training.¹¹

One more point on handling results. A Tentative Nonconfirmation, now called a “mismatch,” does not mean the employee is unauthorized. During the eight federal working days the employee has to resolve it, you have to keep them working under the same terms as any other employee. You cannot fire them, cut their hours, delay training, or withhold pay because a case is pending.¹² Termination is only appropriate after E-Verify issues a Final Nonconfirmation.¹³

1
Justia. Georgia Code 13-10-91 – Verification of New Employee Eligibility
2
Justia. Georgia Code 13-10-90 – Definitions
3
Justia. Georgia Code 36-60-6 – Utilization of Federal Work Authorization Program
4
Georgia Department of Law. Private Employer Affidavit Pursuant to O.C.G.A. 36-60-6(d)
5
E-Verify. The Enrollment Process
6
E-Verify. E-Verify Participation – Enrollment vs. Registration
7
E-Verify. E-Verify User Manual – 2.1 Form I-9 and E-Verify
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 10.0 Retaining Form I-9
9
EEOC. Pre-Employment Inquiries and Citizenship
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1324b – Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices
11
U.S. Department of Justice. IER Letters of Resolutions FY 2026
12
E-Verify. Employee Rights and Responsibilities
13
E-Verify. 3.0 Case Results