Q : I am a university that has a Federal contract with the FAR E-Verify clause but I have not yet enrolled in E-Verify. I have one or more employees who are F-1 OPT STEM students and seeking a 17-month extension of their OPT status. Do I need to verify them?

If your organization has a Federal contract with the FAR E-Verify clause and wants to hire students on a STEM extension, you must enroll in E-Verify and use E-Verify for all new hires, not just a student on a STEM extension.

Since you are an organization that is an institution of higher education, you must enroll in E-Verify and verify the employment authorization of your existing and new employees assigned to the Federal contract, but not all newly hired employees.  However, your organization may choose to use E-Verify for all new hires.  If your organization is both a Federal contractor and wishes to hire F-1 OPT STEMs, it must verify all new hires plus existing employers assigned to the Federal contract as required by the Federal contractor rule.