Mandatory E-Verify States in 2026: What State Laws Mean (and Don't) for STEM OPT Job Seekers
Nine states make some private employers use E-Verify, but only the federal STEM OPT rule decides whether your job qualifies, and it applies in every state.
Part of our guide to E-Verify.
By our count, nine states require at least some private employers to use E-Verify for new hires as of November 1, 2026: Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and South Carolina for essentially all employers, plus Georgia (more than 10 employees), Florida and North Carolina (25 or more), Tennessee (35 or more full-time equivalents) and Utah (150 or more). Those are the mandatory E-Verify states. None of them decides your STEM OPT eligibility. That test is federal: the employer that signs your Form I-983 must itself be enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing, in any state. A state mandate only makes a local employer more likely to be enrolled already.
Status line, as of November 1, 2026. In effect: the nine state mandates in the table below. Failed in 2026: Florida's HB 197, which would have covered all private employers, and Utah's HB 294, which would have lowered Utah's threshold. Not a mandate: Indiana's SEA 76. Details are below the table. Federal: E-Verify's authority runs with the continuing resolution through 2026-12-11, and the STEM OPT 180-day automatic extension is in effect, unchanged by the 2026-10-14 EAD final rule.
Mandatory E-Verify states in 2026: the short answer
A mandatory E-Verify state is one whose own law makes some or all private employers check new hires in E-Verify. As of November 1, 2026, four states cover essentially every employer and five cover employers above a headcount. Newer laws we checked, such as Ohio's and Iowa's, reach only one industry or public employers. None of these laws changes the federal STEM OPT test.
Vendor lists answer an employer's question ("must I enroll?"). Yours is whether this employer's enrollment carries your STEM OPT application, which only 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)(5) decides; our STEM OPT E-Verify employer requirement guide covers that rule in full.
Which states require E-Verify for private employers in 2026?
Vendor lists conflict, so we checked each state against its own statute or labor-agency page, except Utah (see the note below the table). Each row links the page we read.
State E-Verify mandates for private employers, as of 2026-11
| State | Which private employers must use E-Verify | In force since | Law | Source we read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Every business entity or employer in the state | 2012-04-01 | Ala. Code 31-13-15(b) | Code of Alabama, 31-13-15 |
| Arizona | Every employer, after hiring an employee | Hires after 2007-12-31 | A.R.S. 23-214(A) | Arizona Legislature |
| Florida | Private employers with 25 or more employees | 2023-07-01 | Fla. Stat. 448.095(2)(b)2 | Florida Statutes 2026 |
| Georgia | Private employers with more than 10 employees (people working 35+ hours a week, counted at all locations as of January 1); the E-Verify number is required for a county or city business license | In force | O.C.G.A. 36-60-6(a), (d), (f) | Georgia Dept. of Audits and Accounts |
| Mississippi | Employers; the state says its 2008 Act "requires employers to participate" | Act passed in 2008 | Mississippi Employment Protection Act | Mississippi Dept. of Employment Security |
| North Carolina | Employers with 25 or more employees in the state (people employed less than nine months a calendar year not counted) | 2013-07-01 (25+ tier) | N.C. Gen. Stat. 64-25, 64-26 | NC Department of Labor FAQ |
| South Carolina | All private employers that must complete Form I-9, for every new employee within three business days | 2012-01-01 | S.C. Code 41-8-20(B) | SC Code of Laws |
| Tennessee | Private employers with 35 or more full-time equivalents under one FEIN, in or outside Tennessee; smaller ones may use E-Verify or keep listed documents | 2023-01-01 | Tennessee Lawful Employment Act | TN Labor and Workforce Development |
| Utah | Private employers with 150 or more employees (see note) | Not confirmed | Private Employer Verification Act (Utah Code 13-47-201) | Better Utah bill tracker (unofficial) |
Utah note: the Legislature's site (le.utah.gov) would not load for us on November 1 or 2, 2026, so Utah is the one row without an official source. The 150 figure comes from a nonprofit's bill tracker, which says current law covers "private employers with 150 or more employees" and that 2026's HB 294, which would have lowered that number, failed in a Senate committee in March. Confirm section 13-47-201 on the official Utah Code before relying on it.
Why vendor lists disagree
- Tennessee, 6 vs 35. Tennessee's labor-laws summary still says employers with six or more employees must use E-Verify or keep listed documents. The department's verification page says that since 2023-01-01 only employers with 35 or more full-time equivalents must use E-Verify. Only the second is a true mandate.
- Florida. HB 197, which would have covered every private employer, passed the House 80-30 on 2026-01-15, so lists written early in 2026 may show it as moving. It died in Senate Rules on 2026-03-13, so the 25-employee threshold stands.
- Indiana. SEA 76 (IC 22-5-9) shows up on some 2026 lists as a change. A law-firm summary says it took effect 2026-07-01, gives employers that use E-Verify a reasonable-diligence defense and "does not require private employers to use E-Verify"; CSG Midwest also calls it a liability shield. We could not open the enrolled text, so Indiana is off the table.
- Contractor and industry rules. According to CSG Midwest, Ohio's HB 246 (in effect since March 2026) covers contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers in nonresidential construction, and Iowa's SF 2218 covers some public employers, such as state agencies and school districts. Neither covers private employers generally.
Does a mandatory E-Verify state make every employer there STEM OPT eligible?
No. A state mandate says an employer above a headcount should use E-Verify for new hires. The STEM OPT rule asks whether the particular employer signing your training plan is enrolled, in good standing, and able to give you its number.
The regulation says the employer qualifies when "the student's employer is enrolled in E-Verify, as evidenced by either a valid E-Verify Company Identification number or, if the employer is using an employer agent to create its E-Verify cases, a valid E-Verify Client Company Identification number, and the employer remains a participant in good standing with E-Verify, as determined by USCIS." It also needs an employer identification number (EIN) used for tax purposes.
Common misconception: "If my state requires E-Verify, any job here counts for STEM OPT."
Correction: State mandates skip small employers (a 20-person firm in Charlotte or Tampa is not covered), and a covered employer can be out of compliance. The federal rule applies in all 50 states, including states with no mandate, such as California or New York, where an employer meets the E-Verify test by enrolling voluntarily. What counts is the enrolled entity's Company ID on your Form I-983.
E-Verify is also only one test. The same regulation requires at least 20 hours a week, terms "commensurate with" those of similarly situated US workers and a training plan directly related to your STEM degree, so an enrolled employer without a degree-related role still cannot sign your I-983.
State E-Verify law vs the federal STEM OPT rule
What each rule controls, as of 2026-11
| Question | State E-Verify mandate | Federal STEM OPT rule, 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C) |
|---|---|---|
| Who it binds | Private employers above the state's threshold | Any employer that signs your Form I-983, in any state |
| Small employers | Often exempt (Florida and North Carolina under 25, Tennessee under 35 FTE) | No size exemption; a five-person company can qualify if it is enrolled and meets the I-983 terms |
| What you must show | Nothing; it is the employer's duty | The employer's Company ID or Client Company ID, plus its EIN |
| Where it applies | Varies (North Carolina counts employees in the state; Tennessee counts all FTEs under one FEIN) | The worksite on your I-983, wherever it is |
| If the employer is not enrolled | State penalties (Florida: $1,000 a day after three failures to use E-Verify in 24 months, 448.095(6)(b)) | The employer fails the STEM OPT employer qualification |
That is why state mandates make a weak filter. Our guide to building a STEM OPT target list from E-Verify participating employers shows how to search the federal data by state instead.
Can a STEM OPT employer use E-Verify for only some hires?
Generally no. An E-Verify FAQ about STEM OPT employers poses the case of a university that runs E-Verify only for staff on federal contracts and wants to hire a part-time STEM OPT student already verified by another employer. The answer is no: "every employer who wishes to employ F-1 students with STEM OPT extensions must be enrolled in and in good standing with E-Verify." Each employer must enroll the hiring site where the student will work and verify all new hires at each site, including the STEM OPT student if he or she is a new hire.
So an employer cannot enroll "just for you" and run E-Verify only on international hires; enrollment covers every new hire at the site. That is why some employers hesitate, and our guide on asking an employer to enroll in E-Verify for STEM OPT covers that conversation. The FAQ's "if he or she is a new hire" also suggests that a company you already work for on OPT can enroll later and still sign your I-983, since the regulation tests enrollment and good standing rather than whether a case was run on you. Confirm the details with your DSO.
If you work remotely from another state
State counting rules differ: North Carolina counts employees working in North Carolina, while Tennessee counts all full-time equivalents under one FEIN, inside or outside the state. The federal rule ignores both. E-Verify ties enrollment to the hiring site where the student works, and the regulation requires training "at the location(s) specified" on Form I-983, so make sure your I-983 lists your real worksite.
How do I check whether a company is enrolled in E-Verify?
Search first, get the number from the employer, then carry it into your filing. Your STEM OPT Form I-765 asks for the employer's name as listed in E-Verify and its Company ID, and since PA-2026-05 took effect on 2026-08-05 (in effect, challenged), USCIS can deny an OPT I-765 without an RFE when initial evidence is missing. With 65,221 STEM OPT applications pending at the end of FY2026 Q3 (June 30, 2026, per USCIS I-765 data), a denial can cost months.
- Search the employer's name in the E-Verify Employer Search and note its status, enrollment date and hiring-site states. A miss is not proof of non-enrollment, and E-Verify warns that listed hiring sites are not necessarily all enrolled. Our E-Verify employer lookup walkthrough explains each field.
- Ask HR in writing for the E-Verify Company ID (or Client Company ID, if a payroll provider or other employer agent creates its cases) and the EIN for Form I-983.
- Match the legal entity on your offer letter to the entity holding the E-Verify account; a differently named subsidiary may not be covered.
- Check the state table only as a signal: a 200-person Georgia employer very likely has an E-Verify number, because Georgia asks for it with each local business license, while a 15-person North Carolina startup has no state duty to enroll.
- Submit the completed Form I-983 to your DSO through your school's process for the SEVIS recommendation.
- File Form I-765 with USCIS within 60 days of the DSO recommendation and before your current OPT EAD expires (the window opens 90 days before that date); see the USCIS STEM OPT page.
- Send your DSO a new Form I-983 within 10 days of starting if you change employers during STEM OPT; our STEM OPT employer-change checklist has the sequence.
What happens to E-Verify if federal funding lapses after December 11, 2026?
Nothing has happened, and no one can predict it. E-Verify's authority is extended by the continuing resolution, P.L. 119-103, which the Congressional Research Service says carries E-Verify "for the duration of the CR", so it lapses with the CR unless Congress passes funding by 2026-12-11.
The only guide is precedent. In the 2025 shutdown, E-Verify went offline on 2025-10-01 and came back about a week later. According to Miller Mayer, it was back online without notice late on October 7, E-Verify announced the restart on October 9, and employers had until 2025-10-14 to create cases for people hired while it was down. A state mandate does not keep the federal system running: if E-Verify is down, employers in Alabama and Arizona cannot create cases either, and an employer that still has to enroll would most likely have to wait too.
If your start date lands in mid-December, ask HR how it would handle the E-Verify step, and watch your unemployment count (90 days on post-completion OPT, 150 in aggregate with STEM OPT, per the SEVIS Help Hub). Our E-Verify shutdown explainer for STEM OPT and new H-1B hires goes deeper.
A worked example: two offers and a January OPT end date
Suppose your post-completion OPT EAD ends on Friday, 2027-01-15, so your STEM OPT filing window opened on 2026-10-17. On 2026-11-02 you hold two offers for degree-related analytics roles:
- Offer A, an 18-person firm in Charlotte. North Carolina's law starts at 25 employees, and the E-Verify search shows no record. That is not a dead end: ask whether the firm will enroll voluntarily, and get the Company ID before you count on the offer.
- Offer B, a 300-person logistics company in Atlanta, far above Georgia's threshold and very likely enrolled. You still ask, and learn that a payroll provider creates its cases, so your I-983 needs its Client Company ID.
You accept Offer B on 2026-11-09 with a start date of Monday, 2026-11-30, and report the new employer as your school instructs. HR completes Form I-9 and creates your E-Verify case well before 2026-12-11. You finish the I-983 in early December, your DSO enters the recommendation, and you file the I-765 before 2027-01-15. Because you filed on time, the 180-day automatic extension (in effect) keeps you authorized to work for up to 180 days past the EAD end date while the case is pending.
Change one fact: the start date is Monday, 2026-12-14. Georgia law is the same, but if Congress has not passed funding by 2026-12-11, HR may not be able to create the case on schedule (and had you picked Offer A, its voluntary enrollment would most likely have to wait as well). Agree on a plan with HR in writing, and talk to your DSO before shifting dates in ways that add unemployment days.
Common mistakes
- Treating a state list as a STEM OPT list. A state mandate says nothing about small employers or about who will sign your I-983.
- Writing off employers in no-mandate states. Employers in California, New York or Texas pass the E-Verify test once they enroll and stay in good standing.
- Accepting "we're in Florida, so we use E-Verify." Florida's law starts at 25 employees. Ask for the Company ID itself.
- Using the wrong number. If an employer agent runs the cases, the regulation calls for the Client Company ID.
- Assuming a parent company's enrollment covers you. The entity that employs you and signs Form I-983 must be the enrolled one, at your hiring site.
Frequently asked questions
Which states require E-Verify for all private employers?
As of November 1, 2026, by our count, Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and South Carolina require essentially all private employers to use E-Verify for new hires. Georgia (more than 10 employees), Florida and North Carolina (25 or more), Tennessee (35 or more full-time equivalents) and Utah (150 or more) require it above a size threshold. Florida's 2026 bill to cover every employer died in the state Senate on March 13, 2026.
Does a mandatory E-Verify state make every employer there STEM OPT eligible?
No. State laws exempt employers below their thresholds, and the federal STEM OPT rule at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)(5) asks whether the specific employer signing your Form I-983 is enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing. An employer in any state can meet that test, and one in a mandate state can still fail it.
Can a STEM OPT employer use E-Verify for only some hires?
Generally no. E-Verify's FAQ says every employer of STEM OPT students must be enrolled and in good standing, must enroll the hiring site where the student works, and must verify all new hires at each site, including the STEM OPT student if that student is a new hire.
What happens to E-Verify if federal funding lapses after December 11, 2026?
E-Verify's authority runs with the continuing resolution (P.L. 119-103) through December 11, 2026, and lapses with it unless Congress passes funding by then; no one can say whether it will. In the 2025 shutdown, E-Verify was offline from October 1 for about a week, according to Miller Mayer. If your start date falls near mid-December, ask HR how it would handle the E-Verify step.
How do I check whether a company is enrolled in E-Verify?
Search the employer's name in the free E-Verify Employer Search on e-verify.gov, and treat a miss as unconfirmed, because employers enroll under the name they chose and by hiring site; a hit also does not prove your own hiring site is enrolled. Then ask HR in writing for the E-Verify Company ID or Client Company ID that goes on your Form I-983 and Form I-765.
Sources
- 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C), eCFR
- E-Verify FAQ on STEM OPT employers and the E-Verify Employer Search
- USCIS, Optional Practical Training Extension for STEM Students and USCIS I-765 data, FY2026 Q3
- SEVIS Help Hub, unemployment counter
- P.L. 119-103 (H.R. 6500), enrolled text and CRS report R49353
- State pages: Alabama, Arizona, Florida statute and HB 197 history, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee verification page and labor-laws summary
- Secondary sources, as labelled in the text: Better Utah bill tracker, HB 294, Brinkley Law on Indiana SEA 76, CSG Midwest, October 2, 2026, Miller Mayer on the 2025 E-Verify outage
How we checked this: on November 1-2, 2026 we read each state statute or agency page linked in the table, the eCFR text of 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C), E-Verify's STEM OPT FAQ and Employer Search page, USCIS's STEM OPT page and I-765 data, and the federal funding sources above. Utah's legislative site would not load, so Utah rests on a secondary source, as noted. State legislatures can change these laws in any session, so for a state not in the table, check its labor department or legislature.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Your own I-20, EAD and SEVIS record govern: take I-983 and SEVIS questions to your DSO, status strategy to a licensed immigration attorney, and state compliance questions to the employer's own counsel.
If you'd like help building a job search around employers that already use E-Verify, F1Jobs can talk it through with you.
Frequently asked questions
Which states require E-Verify for all private employers?
As of November 1, 2026, by our count, Alabama, Arizona, Mississippi and South Carolina require essentially all private employers to use E-Verify for new hires. Georgia (more than 10 employees), Florida and North Carolina (25 or more), Tennessee (35 or more full-time equivalents) and Utah (150 or more) require it above a size threshold. Florida's 2026 bill to cover every employer died in the state Senate on March 13, 2026.
Does a mandatory E-Verify state make every employer there STEM OPT eligible?
No. State laws exempt employers below their thresholds, and the federal STEM OPT rule at 8 CFR 214.2(f)(10)(ii)(C)(5) asks whether the specific employer signing your Form I-983 is enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing. An employer in any state can meet that test, and one in a mandate state can still fail it.
Can a STEM OPT employer use E-Verify for only some hires?
Generally no. E-Verify's FAQ says every employer of STEM OPT students must be enrolled and in good standing, must enroll the hiring site where the student works, and must verify all new hires at each site, including the STEM OPT student if that student is a new hire.
What happens to E-Verify if federal funding lapses after December 11, 2026?
E-Verify's authority runs with the continuing resolution (P.L. 119-103) through December 11, 2026, and lapses with it unless Congress passes funding by then; no one can say whether it will. In the 2025 shutdown, E-Verify was offline from October 1 for about a week, according to Miller Mayer. If your start date falls near mid-December, ask HR how it would handle the E-Verify step.
How do I check whether a company is enrolled in E-Verify?
Search the employer's name in the free E-Verify Employer Search on e-verify.gov, and treat a miss as unconfirmed, because employers enroll under the name they chose and by hiring site; a hit also does not prove your own hiring site is enrolled. Then ask HR in writing for the E-Verify Company ID or Client Company ID that goes on your Form I-983 and Form I-765.