How does the SAVE system work and what documents can it verify for citizenship or immigration status?
Executive summary
The Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program is an online, fee-based service run by USCIS that lets registered federal, state, tribal and local agencies check an applicant’s immigration status or certain forms of U.S. citizenship when deciding benefits or licenses [1][2]. SAVE delivers rapid, “point-in-time” electronic responses for many queries but routinely requires additional documentary verification for ambiguous or unmatched cases, and its coverage of birthright-citizen records is limited and contested in official and secondary sources [3][4][5].
1. How agencies access and use SAVE: a gated, fee-based lookup system
Only authorized government and licensing agencies that register with USCIS can submit SAVE queries; the program is fee-based and intended to support benefit and licensing decisions rather than employment verification (which is handled by E-Verify) [1][3][6]. Agencies submit electronic verification requests to SAVE using the applicant’s identifiers—commonly an alien registration number (A-Number), Social Security number, date of birth and/or immigration document details—and receive a response within seconds in routine cases [6][3][7].
2. The three-step verification workflow: initial match, secondary checks, and document upload
SAVE’s workflow typically begins with an automated initial verification against DHS/USCIS records; if that fails or returns incomplete information, the system prompts agencies to “Institute Additional Verification” (IAV) and can require a second-step submission or a third-step “scan and upload” of the applicant’s immigration or citizenship document (front and back) so USCIS staff can adjudicate the case [7][4][6]. Agencies may also print a pre-filled G-845 to mail as part of secondary verification when required [8].
3. What documents SAVE can and cannot verify
SAVE compares information from documents such as lawful permanent resident (I-551) cards, employment authorization documents (EADs), visas and other DHS-issued immigration documents and will return categorizations like Lawful Permanent Resident, Refugee, Asylee, Non‑Immigrant, or indicate employment authorization and admit/expiration dates when recorded [6][9][10]. At the same time, USCIS guidance and program materials warn that certain proofs—United States passports and birth records—are not sufficient for SAVE to verify U.S. citizenship and that naturalized or derived citizenship sometimes cannot be confirmed without additional steps [4][10]. Official USCIS pages assert SAVE can verify naturalized, acquired and U.S.-born citizenship for user agencies, but other USCIS guidance and independent analyses note practical limits and the need for document uploads when records are absent or inconsistent [3][4][5].
4. Interpreting negative or “no match” results and the risk of false negatives
A lack of a SAVE match is not definitive proof of citizenship or noncitizenship: absence from SAVE can mean the person is a birthright citizen (whose records often aren’t in immigration databases), or that the individual has never had an immigration encounter recorded, or that records are incomplete or erroneous—hence the common requirement to escalate to IAV and to collect documentary evidence from applicants [5][4][10]. Counsel and advocacy groups have long warned that errors or missing records can lead to improper denials unless agencies follow SAVE’s additional verification protocols [6][11].
5. Privacy, logging and oversight concerns
SAVE maintains audit trails—USCIS keeps Records of Disclosure for A‑Numbers that document who queried which file and when—and program materials emphasize privacy and security controls for user agencies, but government audits have criticized USCIS monitoring and risk-based oversight gaps that may leave compliance uneven across agencies [12][11]. Recent DHS updates also expanded SAVE’s interfaces (bulk upload, SSA data sharing) and use cases, which raises policy and privacy questions even as USCIS stresses procedural safeguards [1][3].
6. Practical implications and limits for agencies and applicants
In practice, SAVE is a fast, authoritative source for confirming recorded immigration statuses and certain naturalizations when records exist, but agencies must follow its multi-step process and may need to collect and submit original or scanned immigration documents for third-step verification; agencies cannot rely on an incomplete SAVE response and must observe the program’s prompts to avoid wrongful denials [4][7][13]. Where SAVE cannot resolve a case, USCIS directs in-person verification at field offices or formal document submission channels, underscoring that SAVE is a verification tool tied to existing DHS records—not an all-seeing registry of every person’s birthright citizenship [4][10].