E-Verify requirements in Washington State: no state law either way, but some local governments require it

As of October 2026, Washington State has no statute requiring employers to use E-Verify and no statute restricting its use. A private Washington employer with no federal contract and no local government contract decides for itself. The exceptions are local and contractual: several Washington cities and counties have required E-Verify of their own contractors or employees, and a federal contract with the FAR E-Verify clause requires it regardless of state law.

For a recruiter or agency, that means the question to ask in Washington is not "what does the state require" but "what does this particular contract require."

Who is covered in Washington

The two bills that would have settled it

Washington came close to answering the question both ways in the 2011-2012 biennium and did neither.

• HB 1264, "Requiring verification of employment eligibility by the state and its political subdivisions," would have required the state and all counties, cities and towns to use E-Verify. It was referred to the State Government and Tribal Affairs committee in January 2011 and went no further.
• HB 2568, "Maintaining voluntary use of electronic employment verification systems," would have barred the state and municipalities from requiring a private employer to use E-Verify as a condition of a government contract or a business license, or as a penalty, except as federal law or federal funding required. It was returned to the House Rules Committee in February 2012 and did not pass.

Because HB 2568 failed, Washington law does not stop a city or county from requiring E-Verify of its contractors, which is the opposite of California's position; see E-Verify requirements in California.

Local requirements

The House bill report on HB 2568 listed Washington municipalities that, at that time, required E-Verify "either for public employees or county or city contractors": Centralia, Chehalis, Clark County, Kennewick, Lakewood, Lewis County, Napavine, Pierce County, the City of Sumner, Washougal and Whatcom County.

That list is from 2012. Local policies change with new councils, and we did not verify which requirements remain. A contractor or staffing agency bidding on work for one of these governments, or any other Washington city, county, port or special district, should read the solicitation and contract for an E-Verify term and ask the procurement office directly. Where a local term exists, it binds as a contract condition even though no state law requires it.

What applies to every Washington employer

Form I-9

Form I-9 for every hire, with Section 2 completed within three business days of the first day of work; see I-9 timing in hiring. E-Verify, where used, runs off the I-9 data and cannot start before the I-9 is complete.

The federal contractor clause

With no state mandate, a federal contract is the most common way a Washington business becomes required to use E-Verify. Under FAR 22.1803, clause 52.222-54 goes into federal contracts over $150,000 unless performed only outside the United States, shorter than 120 days, or only for commercially available off-the-shelf items, and flows down to subcontracts for services or construction over $3,500 with work in the United States. A covered contractor enrolls within 30 calendar days of award and verifies new hires company-wide plus employees assigned to the contract.

The federal rules once you enroll

The E-Verify employer memorandum of understanding requires verifying all new employees at an enrolled site, within three business days after hire; forbids creating a case before a firm offer has been accepted and Form I-9 completed; forbids pre-employment screening; and forbids adverse action while a tentative nonconfirmation is contested. See E-Verify tentative nonconfirmation.

Questions to ask a Washington public agency

Since any Washington E-Verify duty outside federal work will come from a contract, the useful work happens before signing. Ask the procurement or contracting office:

1. Does this solicitation or contract include an E-Verify requirement, and does it come from a local ordinance, a council resolution, or the agency's standard terms?
2. Does it reach subcontractors and suppliers of temporary labor, and at what tier?
3. Does it cover only workers assigned to this contract, or every new hire during the contract term?
4. What proof does the agency want: an E-Verify company ID, a copy of the signed MOU, a certification, or case records on request?
5. Does the project also carry federal funding with a flowed-down FAR 52.222-54?

Get the answers in writing. A contract term is enforced as a contract term, through whatever remedies the contract gives the agency, rather than through a state statute.

Deciding whether to enroll voluntarily

With no state rule, enrollment is a business choice. Once a hiring site enrolls, the MOU requires verifying every new hire there and reserves DHS's right to inspect Forms I-9 and make site visits to check proper use. In exchange, an employer in good standing may use the DHS-authorized alternative procedure for remote examination of Form I-9 documents. Keep E-Verify case records with the I-9 for the later of three years after hire or one year after employment ends; see I-9 retention rules.

Remote workers and Washington

State mandates generally follow where the employee works. A remote employee living and working in Washington for a company based in Florida or North Carolina is, in general, outside those states' mandates, while a Washington company hiring a remote worker who works from Arizona or South Carolina may owe that state's all-employer requirement. Check each work location in E-Verify requirements by state.

Staffing agencies and recruiters in Washington

• No ordinary commercial placement in Washington carries a state E-Verify duty.
• A placement under a city or county contract may carry one. Ask the client whether its public contract includes an E-Verify term that flows to suppliers of labor.
• An enrolled agency runs E-Verify as the employer of record that completes Form I-9, and once a hiring site is enrolled, all its new hires are verified; see E-Verify for staffing agencies and E-Verify enrollment steps.
• Licensing is separate; see staffing agency license requirements in Washington.

A worked example

This is an invented example. A Tacoma staffing firm supplies flaggers to two road contractors. One is resurfacing a private distribution center's lot. The other holds a county road contract whose general conditions, the firm learns by asking, include a clause requiring contractors and subcontractors to use E-Verify for new hires. No state law applies to either job. The county contract term applies to the second because the firm agreed to it in its subcontract. The firm enrolls a dedicated hiring site for public work, verifies the flaggers it hires there within three business days of hire, and keeps its commercial hiring site unenrolled. Before choosing that setup it confirms with counsel that its hiring sites are genuinely separate.

A Washington checklist

1. No federal contract and no local government contract term? E-Verify is optional; Form I-9 is not.
2. Read every public contract and subcontract for an E-Verify clause, including city, county and special district work.
3. Check every federal subcontract for a flowed-down FAR 52.222-54.
4. If enrolled, verify all new hires at the site, after the offer is accepted and the I-9 is complete.
5. For workers outside Washington, apply the rule of the state where they work.