May 3, 2022 @ 11:18 AM EDT | United States
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently made two announcements:
- List B Documents. Starting May 1, 2022, DHS and ICE are requiring employers to only accept unexpired List B documents for Form I-9 verification. If an employee presented expired List B documents between May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2022, employers are required to update their Form I-9s by July 31, 2022. To obtain further guidance on requirements, please refer to the List B table here for more information.
- Extends I-9 Flexibility to Remote Workers. DHS and ICE announced that due to ongoing precautions related to Covid-19, the Form I-9 flexibility policy for remote workers, has been extended to October 31, 2022. For more information on the policy, click here.
Apr 11, 2022 @ 9:52 PM EDT | United States
In observance of upcoming holidays – including Holy Week in Puerto Rico starting Monday, April 11, 2022 and Good Friday on Friday, April 15, 2022 – several U.S. courthouses, schools in session, and businesses may close. As a result, criminal searches and verifications with external dependencies are expected to be delayed by 24 to 48 hours. Delays for criminal searches and verifications with external dependencies in Puerto Rico may extend through the week of April 18, 2022 due to Holy Week in combination with the recent island-wide power outage. We recommend that candidates and employees scheduled for drug and health services call their chosen clinic to verify hours of operation. For reference, here’s a list of 2022 holidays. Thank you for your continued trust in Sterling.
Apr 8, 2022 @ 3:19 PM EDT | Global, United States
Starting Wednesday, April 6, 2022, an island-wide power outage in Puerto Rico has resulted in criminal, verification and drug & health screening service delays. The island is currently under a State of Emergency with all non-essential offices closed beginning Thursday, April 7, 2022. The electric company is working to restore power; at this time, there is no ETA for restoration of power. Criminal and civil searches and verification services with external dependencies in Puerto Rico are expected to be delayed. Additionally, drug and health testing services are anticipated to be impacted and will likely experience delays since clinics will be unable to perform collections until power is restored.
We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.
Apr 7, 2022 @ 5:12 PM EDT | United States
On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, Harris county, Texas criminal searches became unavailable due to an online source issue at the county courthouse. As of Monday, April 4, 2022, online records for Harris county, TX criminal records have been restored. The impacted searches are expected to be cleared and turnaround times for Harris, TX to be back to normal by start of business, Monday, April 11, 2022. Thank you for your patience, and we appreciate your continued partnership.
Apr 1, 2022 @ 9:26 PM EDT | United States
Harris county, Texas criminal searches became unavailable as of Wednesday, March 30, 2022 due to an online source issue at the county courthouse. Currently, the county does not have an ETA for resolution. We will continue to monitor and provide updates as they become available. Thank you for your patience.
Mar 23, 2022 @ 2:05 PM EDT | United States
Starting on 7:14 a.m. ET on March 21, 2022, we experienced an issue where Drug and Health Screening (D&HS) registration emails were not being sent to candidates during the ordering process. The issue was resolved as of 1:05 p.m. ET on March 23, 2022, and registration emails are now successfully being sent to candidates. Any impacted candidates during this timeframe will receive a registration email on March 23, 2022. Thank you for your patience, and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
