CMS is upgrading the Verifying Lawful Presence (VLP) service to a paperless system, and in order to comply with federal requirements Step 2 and 3 have been removed from VaCMS effective 05/01/2018.  Users will utilize the SAVE process whenever secondary verification is required (i.e. response is Pending). This is an interim process as once the federal process has been updated users will be able to return to verifying lawful presence within VaCMS end to end.

The process to enter the alien details within VaCMS will remain the same, as well as clicking the Verify Lawful Presence button in order to start the verification process. Step 1 verifications (those not requiring extra steps) will also remain the same. If an alien’s immigration status is able to be verified within Step 1, the Verified By Federal Hub? question will receive an answer of Y (Yes). If the response is N (No) this means that the Federal Hub has provided information indicating the alien’s immigration status is no longer valid.

The change will occur if an alien’s immigration status cannot be verified within Step 1. If an alien’s immigration status cannot be verified with Step 1 functionality, VaCMS will result in a P (Pending response) and VaCMS will show the response as P (Use SAVE) and a warning message Lawful Presence could not be verified via Federal Hub. Please verify lawful presence using SAVE system. will display on the top of the page. The user will then need to use SAVE to verify the alien’s immigration status. The eligibility result will show as pending with an other pending reason of Lawful Presence Not Verified. In order for the results to show as other than pending, there are two verification reasons that will allow a pending VLP response to be overlooked: SAVE Verified (a new verification selection) or System Inquiry.

If the VLP response is E, N, P, or blank, the user will be able to call the service again by clicking the Verify Lawful Presence button. If Document Type, I-94 Number, Alien Number, Passport Number, or Visa Number is changed by the user, Verified by the Federal Hub? will be set to a blank value and Verification Source will be set to Not Verified.

NOTE: The other pending reason in Eligibility Summary will not allow a user to view the VCL. The user will need to verify lawful presence before the VCL can be viewed and/or generated.

TBD

Updated: 04/30/2018