During the early months of the pandemic, the Social Security Administration (SSA) took a break from issuing “no-match” letters to employers. It appears that towards the end of 2020, however, the SSA has resumed this practice.

No-match letters notify employers of a discrepancy in an employee’s information (name, Social Security number) between the SSA’s records and the employee’s Form W-2. The no-match letters request employers to review the discrepancies through a designated SSA online portal, inform employees of the no-match, and submit corrected information on a Form W-2c within 60 days. If the discrepancy is not addressed, employers could face serious immigration compliance issues.

As previously discussed, there are certain steps an employer should take if it receives a no-match letter, including discussing the process with immigration counsel.  In addition, employers that have not (yet) received a no-match letter may wish to explore proactive measures. Businesses should prepare for how they will respond to any no-match letters, or similar government inquiry, including who will be assigned to respond, how the process will work, and what records will be kept. Employers should also consider an internal audit of I-9 files, which can help them identify and correct discrepancies.