In March 2024, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed a state bill allowing immigrants without green cards to apply for professional licenses in fields such as accounting, education, dental technology, and many others. Instead of using alien registration numbers or I-551 receipt numbers that are subsequently used to issue green cards, applicants in Washington can use their tax identification numbers issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This is an example of states taking the initiative to remove proof of immigration status requirements for accessing certain services and benefits.
What Is Proof of Immigration Status?
In general, proof of status is a catch-all term for the documents and registrations that can be used to get information about the permanence of foreigners in the United States. Once you get into other contexts, however, the definitions get more nuanced. For example, the Washington Department of Licensing used to require proof of citizenship from applicants who wanted to practice optometry, which meant a Seattle optometrist with a green card who may have already practiced in another state didn’t qualify.
At the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) level, verification of immigration status starts at the top with two categories. Nonimmigrants are foreigners who don’t intend to stay permanently. They may be tourists, skilled workers on H-1B visa contracts, actors, professional athletes, businesspeople, and many others. Immigrants are foreigners who were lawfully admitted into the U.S. to settle.
Then you have proof of status at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) level, which boils down to documented, undocumented, admissible, and inadmissible. When DHS enforcement agencies such as the Border Patrol verify the status of individuals they approach, they focus on documentation and admissibility to verify status. For the most part, agents want to determine if the individuals they approach should be detained. For example, a valid USCIS Form I-327 for reentry or even an Employment Authorization Document (I-766 card) would be sufficient to avoid detention.
Proof of Immigration Status through E-Verify & SAVE
The two major services provided to employers and organizations by USCIS to verify immigration status are E-Verify and the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system. The use of E-Verify is a mandatory step in the hiring process. It essentially turns IRS Form I-9 into an electronic record that compares this information against various databases to determine authorization to work in the U.S. Users of the SAVE system tend to be employees of state agencies that require proof of immigration status as part of the process to request benefits.
Individuals and San Diego immigration attorneys can also ascertain status through the USCIS Check Case Status Online tool, which is a web form used to track how a petition, request, or application is moving through the system. The numbers used for this system aren’t the same as the A-numbers for alien registration. They’re the 13-digit receipt codes that start with three letters, such as EAC1234567890. There are no certifications issued by this system, but the status can be inferred from the query results. If the system indicates a passport was stamped with a temporary I-551 designation, the status would be lawful permanent resident even if the green card hasn’t been issued.
For more information on issues such as immigration status, citizenship, naturalization, and family-based immigration, San Diego residents should reach out to the experienced immigration attorneys at KS Visa Law. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
