E-Verify poster requirements: the two notices, where they go, and how to show them to remote applicants

Every employer enrolled in E-Verify must display two notices: the Notice of E-Verify Participation from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Right to Work poster from the Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER). Both must appear in English and Spanish, in a prominent place clearly visible to prospective employees and all employees who will be verified, including people hired to work remotely. As of November 2026, E-Verify says that can mean displaying them digitally, online, in hard copy at physical locations or with job application materials, that you must use the latest versions, and that you may not alter them or buy them from a vendor.

Which two posters does E-Verify require?

The source of the duty is Article II.A.1 of the MOU, under which the employer agrees to display the notices "supplied by DHS in a prominent place that is clearly visible to prospective employees and all employees who are to be verified through the system." Section 1.5 of the manual lists the same two posters among the rules every participant must follow. They are an E-Verify obligation, separate from any other workplace posters your business must display.

What do the two posters tell people?

• The E-Verify Participation Poster says the employer participates in E-Verify and will give the federal government the employee's Form I-9 information to confirm work authorization; that if E-Verify cannot confirm it, the employer must give written instructions and a chance to contact DHS or the Social Security Administration before taking any action, including termination; and that employers can use E-Verify only after the person has accepted a job offer and completed Form I-9. It gives a DHS number for reporting violations.
• The Right to Work Poster explains that the law at 8 U.S.C. 1324b protects workers who are legally authorized to work from discrimination based on citizenship status and national origin, including unfair treatment during Form I-9 or E-Verify and retaliation, and gives IER's contact details.

Read together, they tell every applicant the two things a recruiter most needs them to know: E-Verify happens only after an accepted offer, and a mismatch comes with a process, not an automatic rejection.

Where must the posters be displayed?

The test is visibility to the people who will be verified, before and after they are hired. Section 1.5 says you must notify "prospective employees and all employees, including those hired to work in a remote setting," by clearly displaying both posters in English and Spanish, and that this "can include displaying the posters digitally, online, in hard copy at physical locations, and providing a copy of the posters with job application materials." E-Verify's FAQ adds that if unique business needs make display difficult, you must make sure all prospective employees receive them by those same routes. In practice that means three places:

• Where people apply: the application or careers pages and any printed application packet.
• Where people are hired and complete Form I-9: each participating hiring site.
• Where employees work: break rooms and notice boards at your locations, and your intranet or onboarding portal for people who never come in.

How do you show the posters to remote applicants and employees?

Online and in the paperwork. The manual's wording covers remote applicants directly, so a poster on the office wall alone does not reach them. There is one constraint to respect: E-Verify's FAQ on electronic display says E-Verify posters can be displayed by enrolled employers only, and that "electronically linking official (non-sample) E-Verify posters to external web sites is not permitted." The practical reading is to put the posters inside your own application flow and onboarding materials, for example as a page or attachment applicants see when they apply, rather than linking to a copy hosted somewhere else, and to ask E-Verify at 888-464-4218 if your careers site setup leaves you unsure. For the rest of the remote process, see E-Verify for remote employees.

Do the posters have to be in Spanish, or in other languages?

English and Spanish are both required. E-Verify's FAQ on foreign-language posters says you may also display them in other languages but are not required to, and that displaying a poster in another language does not oblige you to run all E-Verify communications in that language. It draws one line: the Further Action Notice and the Referral Date Confirmation must be provided in English and in the appropriate language for an employee with limited English proficiency. Translated posters are available from e-verify.gov, and Section 1.5 allows display of the other languages DHS provides.

Where do you get the official posters, and can you change them?

• From E-Verify, inside your account. Section 1.2.1 lists both posters under View Essential Resources. The copy of the E-Verify Participation Poster on the public resources page carries a "Sample Only" watermark, which fits E-Verify's statement that the posters are for enrolled employers to display.
• The latest version only. E-Verify's FAQ says you must replace previous versions with the most recent versions as soon as possible.
• No edits and no vendors. The FAQ says you may not make any changes to the posters or purchase them from a vendor, which rules out a vendor's combined labor-law poster as the way to meet this requirement.
• The IER's own copy. The Justice Department also publishes the Right to Work poster in English and Spanish on IER's employer information page.

Two things that look like substitutes are not. E-Verify's trademark page says the "I E-Verify" seal, which enrolled employers can apply to use, does not replace the requirement to post both posters. And if a client or a state agency asks for proof that you participate, E-Verify's FAQ says to print your company profile page, not to send the poster.

Who posts when an employer agent or staffing agency is involved?

The duty sits with the employer whose new hires are verified, but E-Verify assigns a supporting role to employer agents. Its FAQ on employer agents says the agent must provide clients with both posters after enrollment, and should provide replacement participation posters when DHS issues updates; the client must display them. (See E-Verify employer agents for the rest of that relationship.) A staffing agency that runs E-Verify for the temps on its own payroll is the participating employer for those workers, so its own application materials and onboarding should carry the posters even when the temps work at a client site; see E-Verify for staffing agencies for who runs the case.

Federal contractors that start verifying existing employees under the FAR clause do not need to notify those employees one by one. E-Verify's FAQ says displaying the posters where prospective and existing employees can see them meets the MOU's notice requirement; see E-Verify for existing employees.

What happens if you do not display them?

The MOU does not set a separate fine for a missing poster. Display is one of the employer's responsibilities under the MOU, and the same document lets DHS and SSA monitor compliance, including by reviewing records, interviewing the employer and its employees (Article II.A.18), and conducting site visits to ensure proper use of E-Verify (Article II.A.8.b). Article V.B.2 allows DHS to end an employer's participation for failure to comply with established E-Verify procedures, which can matter a great deal to a federal contractor or an employer in a state that requires E-Verify. The posters also carry the phone numbers employees use to report problems, so a missing poster is easy for anyone to notice.

Common mistakes

A poster checklist

• Download both posters from View Essential Resources in your E-Verify account.
• Display the English and Spanish versions at every participating hiring site.
• Put both inside your online application flow and your onboarding materials.
• Add translated versions if many of your applicants read another language, as an option, not a substitute.
• Check e-verify.gov for newer versions when you review your onboarding materials, and swap old ones out.
• If you use an employer agent, confirm it sent you the posters and will send replacements.
• Keep a printed company profile page for anyone who asks for proof of participation.

If you are setting E-Verify up for the first time, the posters are one of the steps in E-Verify enrollment steps; for how E-Verify adds to the Form I-9 process generally, see E-Verify vs Form I-9.