2012-22256. Agency Information Collection Activities: E-Verify Program; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection

ACTION:

60-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review: OMB-18, E-Verify Program.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The information collection notice is published in the Federal Register to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for sixty days until November 13, 2012.

Written comments and suggestions regarding items contained in this notice, and especially with regard to the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, Laura Dawkins, Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20529. Comments may be submitted to DHS via email at [e-mail] and must include OMB Control Number 1615-0092 in the subject box. Comments may also be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov under e-Docket ID number USCIS-2007-0023.

If submitting comment on one of the six E-Verify Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), please identify the MOU that concerns your business process, and, if possible, the article, section and paragraph number within the MOU that is associated with the comment.

All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket ID. Regardless of the method used for submitting comments or material, all submissions will be posted, without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov,, and will include any personal information you provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information that you provide in any voluntary submission you make to DHS. DHS may withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For additional information, please read the Privacy Act notice that is available via the link in the footer of http://www.regulations.gov.

Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies should address one or more of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agencies estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection.

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: E-Verify Program.

(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department of Homeland Security sponsoring the collection: No Agency Form Number; File OMB-18. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract: Primary: Business or other for profit. E-Verify allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility status of newly hired employees.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond:

• 65,000 respondents averaging 2.26 hours (2 hours 16 minutes) per response (enrollment time includes review and signing of the MOU, registration, new user training, and review of the user guides); plus
• 425,000, the number of already-enrolled respondents receiving training on new features and system updates averaging 1 hour per response; plus
• 425,000, the number of respondents submitting E-Verify cases averaging .129 hours (approximately 8 minutes) per case.

(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: 3,587,275 annual burden hours.

If you have additional comments, suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection instrument with instructions, or additional information, please visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov. We may also be contacted at: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, Regulatory Coordination Division, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20529, Telephone number 202-272-1470.

Dated: September 5, 2012.

Laura Dawkins,

Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.