E-Verify requirements in Virginia: state agencies, and state contractors over 50 employees and $50,000

As of October 2026, Virginia has two E-Verify mandates, both aimed at state government. Since December 1, 2012, every agency of the Commonwealth has had to use E-Verify for its own new hires working in Virginia. Since December 1, 2013, a private employer with more than an average of 50 employees that signs a contract over $50,000 with a state agency has had to register and participate in E-Verify for new hires working on that contract, or face debarment from state contracting for up to a year. Private employers without a state contract, and contractors that only work for localities, have no Virginia E-Verify duty.

Virginia also has two older provisions that recruiters rarely hear about: a required contract clause for every public body, and a 1977 statute about what employment application forms must ask.

Virginia's rules at a glance

The state contractor rule, Va. Code 2.2-4308.2

Both thresholds have to be met

The rule applies to "any employer with more than an average of 50 employees for the previous 12 months entering into a contract in excess of $50,000 with any agency of the Commonwealth to perform work or provide services." That is two separate tests:

• Headcount: more than 50 employees on average over the prior 12 months. Exactly 50 is not enough. The statute does not say employees in Virginia, so read it as total headcount and confirm with counsel if your workforce is mostly out of state.
• Contract value: more than $50,000, on a contract with an agency of the Commonwealth to perform work or provide services. A contract for goods alone is outside it.

Who is verified

The statute requires E-Verify for "newly hired employees performing work pursuant to such public contract." That is narrower than states like Indiana or Nebraska, which cover every new hire. In practice, E-Verify's rules require an enrolled hiring site to verify every new hire at that site, so a contractor that wants E-Verify limited to the state contract team has to manage that through which hiring sites it enrolls.

Penalty: debarment that ends on compliance

An employer that fails to comply is "debarred from contracting with any agency of the Commonwealth for a period up to one year," and the debarment "shall cease upon the employer's registration and participation in the E-Verify program." There is no fine in the section. The structure makes the cure obvious: enroll. The consequence of not enrolling is losing access to every state agency, not just the one whose contract was affected.

Localities are not covered

The section speaks only of contracts with an agency of the Commonwealth. A contractor whose public work is all for counties, cities, towns or school divisions has no Virginia E-Verify duty, though the local contract will still carry the 2.2-4311.1 clause described below and may add its own terms.

State agencies' own hiring, Va. Code 40.1-11.2

Every agency of the Commonwealth had to be enrolled by December 1, 2012, and from that date must use E-Verify for "each newly hired employee who is to perform work within the Commonwealth." For recruiters filling state jobs, including through a staffing contract for direct hires, the agency runs the case once the hire is made and Form I-9 is complete. E-Verify cannot be used to screen candidates before an offer, in Virginia or anywhere else.

The contract clause every public body uses, Va. Code 2.2-4311.1

All public bodies, state and local, must include in every written contract a provision that the contractor does not, and will not during performance, knowingly employ an unauthorized alien as defined in federal law. This is where many Virginia contractors first see immigration language. It does not require E-Verify; it is a promise about knowing employment, which a contractor meets with accurate Form I-9 practice. Using E-Verify is a reasonable way to support that promise but is not what the clause demands.

Application forms, Va. Code 40.1-11.1

A 1977 Virginia statute requires that employment application forms used by state and local governments and by privately owned businesses operating in Virginia ask applicants whether they are legally eligible for employment in the United States. It also says nothing in the section requires an employer to use application forms at all. If you do use one, include an authorization question, and phrase it as eligibility to work rather than citizenship, which avoids a federal discrimination problem.

The same section makes knowingly employing an alien who cannot show work eligibility documents a Class 1 misdemeanor. That part predates the 1986 federal law that expressly preempts state civil and criminal sanctions on employers of unauthorized workers other than through licensing laws (8 U.S.C. 1324a(h)(2)), so whether it can still be enforced is doubtful and a question for counsel. The application-form requirement does not depend on it.

Staffing agencies and federal contractors in Virginia

• Agencies on state contracts: an agency with more than 50 employees on average that holds a state agency services contract over $50,000 must use E-Verify for new hires working on it. See E-Verify for staffing agencies and staffing agency license requirements in Virginia.
• Federal work: a Virginia employer with a federal contract or subcontract may already be under FAR 52.222-54, which requires E-Verify for new hires company-wide and for existing employees assigned to the contract. That federal duty is broader than anything in Virginia law. For other federal contractor hiring rules, see job posting requirements for federal contractors.

Easy mistakes in Virginia bids and onboarding

1. Treating the no-unauthorized-aliens clause as an E-Verify clause. They are different obligations from different sections. The clause is in every public contract; the E-Verify duty attaches only when both 2.2-4308.2 thresholds are met on a state agency contract.
2. Counting headcount on the bid date only. The test is an average over the previous 12 months. A firm that ramped up quickly may cross 50 on average later than it crossed 50 on payroll, and a firm that shrank may still be over the line.
3. Enrolling after the work starts. The statute attaches the duty to entering into the contract. Enroll before the first new hire on the contract team starts work.
4. Re-running existing staff. Moving current employees onto a state contract does not make them new hires. Outside a federal contract with the FAR clause, E-Verify is for new hires only.
5. Asking citizenship on the application. Virginia requires an eligibility question if you use application forms, not a citizenship question.

A worked example

This is an invented example. A Richmond IT firm averaging 65 employees wins a $300,000 services contract with a state agency, and a separate $90,000 contract with a county. The state contract triggers 2.2-4308.2 because both thresholds are met, so the firm registers in E-Verify and verifies new hires working on the state contract; its enrolled hiring site will in practice verify all new hires. The county contract triggers no E-Verify duty, only the no-unauthorized-aliens clause. Had the firm averaged 48 employees, neither contract would require E-Verify.

A Virginia checklist

• State agency services contract over $50,000 and more than 50 average employees: enroll before work starts.
• Local contracts: sign the 2.2-4311.1 clause and back it with clean Form I-9s.
• Application forms: include a work-eligibility question.
• Run E-Verify only after hire and after Form I-9; see I-9 timing in hiring.
• Check federal contracts for FAR 52.222-54 separately.
• Compare other states in E-Verify requirements by state.