E-Verify requirements in Vermont: no mandate, nothing in state contracts, and a licensing law that is easy to misread

As of October 2026, no Vermont law makes E-Verify mandatory for anyone, and the terms the state attaches to its own contracts and grants do not ask contractors about it. Private employers, state agencies, towns, school districts and state vendors all work under the federal baseline: Form I-9 for every new hire, and E-Verify only where a federal contract requires it or the employer chooses it.

Where Vermont does have relevant law, it points away from enforcement. A 2024 statute stops licensing boards from denying professional licenses because of immigration status, and the state's anti-discrimination law covers place of birth. Neither changes the federal duty to verify work authorization, but both affect how a careful Vermont employer runs its hiring.

Vermont by employer type

State contracts: what Attachment C covers, and what it does not

Almost every Vermont state contract and grant incorporates Attachment C, the standard state provisions maintained by the Department of Buildings and General Services. The February 13, 2026 revision runs to roughly 4,500 words and covers governing law, insurance, records, taxes, conflicts of interest and similar terms. It contains no E-Verify clause and no work-authorization certification. A Vermont vendor therefore takes on no state verification duty by signing a standard state contract, although a particular agency can add its own terms, and a contract funded with federal money may carry federal flow-down terms that need separate review.

That last point is worth separating carefully. FAR 52.222-54 is a clause in federal procurement contracts. Federal money that reaches a vendor through a state agency, as a grant or as part of a state contract, does not bring the clause in automatically. E-Verify's own guidance on grants is that a recipient must use E-Verify if the grant's terms include the FAR clause, so the test is the documents, not the funding source.

The licensing law: 3 V.S.A. § 139

Added by Act 105 of the 2023 adjourned session and effective September 1, 2024, section 139 provides that an applicant shall not be denied any professional license or certification enumerated in Title 3 or Titles 16, 20 or 26 "on the basis of the applicant's citizenship status or immigration status or lack thereof." Where a Social Security number would otherwise be required, the applicant may supply a federal employer identification number or an individual taxpayer identification number, unless federal law or an interstate compact requires the Social Security number.

For a recruiter, the practical consequence is simple: a Vermont license is evidence of qualification, not of employment authorization. A hospital, dental practice, school or engineering firm hiring a licensed professional still completes Form I-9 and accepts only documents from the federal lists. Asking about immigration status earlier, because a license number came with an ITIN rather than a Social Security number, would be the wrong response; the I-9 process after the offer is where work authorization is established. See I-9 List A, B and C documents.

Place of birth and document practices

Vermont's Fair Employment Practices Act, 21 V.S.A. § 495, makes it unlawful for an employer or employment agency to discriminate because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, place of birth, crime victim status, age or disability. "Place of birth" is broader than most federal categories. An employer that asks foreign-born new hires for a green card or an EAD, while accepting a driver's license and Social Security card from everyone else, invites a state claim on top of the federal document-abuse rule. The fix is a uniform practice: every new hire picks from the same lists, and an employer that has enrolled puts all of a site's new hires through the system, not a chosen few.

Ski areas, farms and other seasonal employers

Vermont's winter resorts, summer camps, orchards and farms hire on a seasonal rhythm, and some rely on temporary foreign workers in the H-2A and H-2B programs. None of that brings a state E-Verify duty, but it does bring a few recurring Form I-9 situations:

• Temporary foreign workers. A foreign passport with a Form I-94 showing a nonimmigrant status that authorizes work for that employer is a List A document. The work authorization usually ends on the I-94 date, so the employer must track it and reverify when it expires; see I-9 reverification.
• Returning staff. Lift operators, instructors and pickers who come back each season may need a new I-9, an updated one, or nothing, depending on whether their employment formally ended and how long ago the original form was completed.
• Voluntary E-Verify. A resort that signs up takes on a case for each person it hires at that location, domestic seasonal staff included, inside three business days of each start date. Peak-season volume is the main reason some seasonal employers decide against enrolling when nothing requires it.

Neighbors

Federal contracts in Vermont

Federal agencies write the E-Verify clause (FAR 52.222-54) into awards worth more than $150,000 that run for at least 120 days with domestic work, skipping purchases of nothing but off-the-shelf commercial goods, and prime contractors must pass it to services or construction subcontractors whose share tops $3,500. Enrollment is due 30 calendar days after award. A private contractor then runs everyone it hires through the system while the contract lasts, which for a small Vermont manufacturer or construction firm usually means the whole workforce's onboarding changes at once. Before accepting the clause, map out who will run cases and how mismatches will be handled; E-Verify enrollment steps covers the setup.

A worked example

An invented case shows how this plays out. A Burlington home health agency recruits a nurse who holds a Vermont license obtained under 3 V.S.A. § 139 using an ITIN. The agency extends the offer, and on the first day the nurse completes Section 1 of Form I-9. By the third business day the nurse has not presented an acceptable List A document, or an acceptable List C document to go with a List B document, or a valid receipt, so the agency cannot complete Section 2 and cannot continue the employment. The agency's process treats this exactly as it would treat any other new hire who cannot present acceptable documents, and it never asked about immigration status before the offer.

A Vermont checklist

1. Vermont imposes no E-Verify duty; the federal Form I-9 is the baseline.
2. Standard state contracts and grants (Attachment C) add no verification clause; check agency add-ons.
3. Treat a professional license as proof of qualification only.
4. Apply one document practice to everyone, to stay clear of place-of-birth and federal discrimination rules.
5. Before signing a federal prime contract or subcontract, find out whether the E-Verify clause is in it.
6. Agencies placing workers in Vermont should also review staffing agency license requirements in Vermont.