Those who want to work in the U.S. but are unsure whether they are eligible are now able to check their employment visa online through a website called Self-Check. The site allows prospective workers who are older than 16 to check their status and is now available in Spanish. The site recently expanded to 16 states, including California.
Formerly, Self-Check was only available to employers. Now that it is available to would-be workers, it is much easier and less embarrassing for people to determine whether they can legally work in the U.S. before they apply for a job.
Here’s how it works: the worker enters the same information in order to confirm eligibility for working in the U.S. that an employer would need to enter. Self-Check allows the users to compare information to the exact same databases that are accessed through E-verify. It gives the worker an opportunity to take care of any of the mismatches in existing data before they’re hired by an employer that participates in E-verify.
This website is something that can help both workers and employers in California and other states because it saves people from wasting time and prevents anyone from getting into trouble.
Even with simplifications like this, the process of naturalization and obtaining legal work can be difficult to understand and is almost always time-consuming. Many people find that working with an attorney who practices in this field makes things move more smoothly.
Source: The Fontana Herald News, “Self Check- a free online service-is now available in California,” Aug. 25, 2011
