Complete And Correct Form I

Product Information

old version of i-9 form

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  • Although USCIS publishes a Spanish language version of the I-9, the Spanish version is only authorized for use in Puerto Rico.
  • Mandated by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, it is used to verify the identity and legal authorization to work of all paid employees in the United States.
  • In the newly updated Form I-9, USCIS added Eswatini and North Macedonia to the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the foreign passport issuing authority field in Section 2 per those countries’ recent name changes.
  • Many factors are considered when determining whether or not an individual or entity is an independent contractor.
  • Brian Graham is a partner in the firm’s Austin office where he concentrates his practice in corporate and investment-based immigration law and is a member of the labor, employment and workplace safety practice group.

Forms must be kept for the longer of three years after the date of hire, or one year after the date the person leaves employment. The names and numbers matched available records, and the employee is good to go. Clarification of who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer.

The Federal Register

If you hired your employee on or before Nov. 6, 1986, and still employ that person, you are generally not required to complete Form I-9 for that employee. For employers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , Form I-9 is not required for employees hired for employment in the CNMI on or before Nov. 27, 2009 and who continue in their employment with the same employer after that date. Given the increase in government I-9 audits over recent years, we recommend that companies regularly conduct internal audits of Forms I-9; properly correcting errors, when possible. We also recommend that employers purge Forms I-9 for former employees that are no longer required to be retained due to the expiration of the retention period. Always start with your employment legal counsel, but USCIS and DHS have provided a lot of documentation to try to make it easier for employers to maintain I-9 compliance. With all the politics, state interpretations, and other changes in forms and processes, it’s getting harder and harder to comply with Form I-9 and employment eligibility requirements.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers must use Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization of their employees. This Notice contains the dates of both the prior version and the new version of Form I-9 that employers may use, as well as the date when the prior version will become obsolete.

For over 25 years, CDF has distinguished itself as one of the top employment, labor and immigration firms in California, representing employers in single-plaintiff and class action lawsuits and advising employers on related legal compliance and risk avoidance. This is a reminder that employers are required to use the new version of the Form I-9 as of May 1,2020. As noted in our prior post, USCIS announced the publication of the new version of the Form I-9 on January 31, 2020, with a 60-day grace period for its mandatory use. Accordingly, the new version of the went into effect onMay 1, 2020 and all prior versions of Form I-9 are no longer be valid for use and are obsolete. The Public Inspection pageon FederalRegister.gov offers a preview of documents scheduled to appear in the next day’s Federal Register issue.

List A specifies the kinds of documents that can be used to show both identity and employment eligibility. The new List A finally brings the Form I-9 into conformity with statutory and regulatory changes that were made in 1996 and 1997. Employers should no longer rely on the List A that appears in prior versions of Form I-9. The individual or business that is contracting with the independent contractor is not required to complete Form I-9 for the contractor. Remember, however, that federal law prohibits individuals or businesses from contracting with an independent contractor knowing that the independent contractor is not authorized to work in the U.S.

The OFR/GPO partnership is committed to presenting accurate and reliable regulatory information on FederalRegister.gov with the objective of establishing the XML-based Federal Register as an ACFR-sanctioned publication in the future. Until the ACFR grants it official status, the XML rendition of the daily Federal Register on FederalRegister.gov does not provide legal notice to the public or judicial notice to the courts. For U.S. citizens, I-9s are valid continuously unless a break of more than a year of employment occurs.

Immigration & Border Control

Employers are liable for all errors on the form and must retain Forms I-9 for inspection for a certain period of time after an employee leaves the company . The employee must be provided the information of HOW to contest a TNC, including the timelines/deadlines to do so. If an employee wishes to contest the TNC, you must provide a Referral Date Confirmation with the deadline and process to visit SSA or call DHS. Employees must be able to know they’ve received a Tentative Nonconfirmation and have the ability to contest it.. Your must give the employee a Further Action Notice in English and a translated version, if appropriate, with information on how to contest the TNC. Department of Homeland Security or the Social Security Administration issued the TNC. The employee must complete Section 1 on or before the first day of paid work.

old version of i-9 form

In addition, an employer must accept any valid document or combination of documents specified in the I-9 form as long as the documents appear genuine. Section 3 of the form is primarily used to verify the continued employment authorization of the employee. This section, if applicable, is completed at the time that the employee’s employment authorization and/or employment authorization documentation recorded in either Section 1 or Section 2 of the form expires. This section may also be used if the employee is rehired within 3 years of the date of the initial completion of the form and to document a name change if Section 3 is otherwise completed. Section 2 must be completed within three business days of the start of paid work. The employee must present to an authorized agent of your business an original document or documents that show their identity and employment authorization, and your authorized agent must certify they’ve reviewed the documents, and sign and date.

Fox Rothschild LLP is a national law firm of 950 attorneys in offices throughout the United States. We’ve been serving clients for more than a century, and we’ve been climbing the ranks of the nation’s largest firms for many years, according to both The Am Law 100 and The National Law Journal. News, trends and analysis, as well as breaking news alerts, to help HR professionals do their jobs better each business day. This table of contents is a navigational tool, processed from the headings within the legal text of Federal Register documents. This repetition of headings to form internal navigation links has no substantive legal effect. Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.

What Are Acceptable Documents For Form I

If this process is not completed by the expiration date, the employee cannot continue to work and may be put on a leave of absence or terminated, per company policy. For example, an employer could not refuse to hire a candidate because his I-9 revealed that he was a non-citizen rather than a U.S. citizen. For this reason some immigration lawyers advise companies to avoid requiring an I-9 until a candidate is hired rather than risk a lawsuit. As another example, a company could not insist that an employee provide a passport rather than, say, a driver’s license and social security card. Another anti-discrimination provision requires that employers must enforce I-9 compliance in a uniform manner. For example, an employer must not require some employees to complete an I-9 before being hired, but allow others to complete the form after starting employment. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of required employers to verify that all newly hired employees presented facially valid documentation verifying the employee’s identity and legal authorization to accept employment in the United States.

If the employee has a name change unrelated to his or her work authorization, no documentation is required to be viewed for updating purposes. Creating action dates 90 and 30 days before the expiration date to notify/remind the employee that he or she will need to provide a new document and to remind the employee which documents are acceptable. Employers may wish to include the consequences of not providing new documentation by the expiration date. As needed, organizations should notify the employee’s direct supervisor that the employee may not perform any work after the expiration date if documentation is not provided in time. Please note that the instructions to the Form I-9 do provide acceptable abbreviations of documents for List A, B, and C completion. These abbreviations are populated when the Form I-9 is completed on the computer version of the form (smart I-9) available on the USCIS website. Employers and certain agricultural recruiters and referrers for a fee must verify the identity and employment authorization of each individual they hire for employment in the United States on Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

A note should be included in the file regarding the reason you made changes to an existing Form I-9 or completed a new Form I-9. On Jan. 31, 2020, USCIS published theForm I-9 Federal Register noticeannouncing a new version ofForm I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, that theOffice of Management and Budget approvedon Oct. 21, 2019. This new version containsminor changesto the form and its instructions. Individuals hired on or before Nov. 6, 1986, who are continuing in their employment and have a reasonable expectation of employment at all times. (Some limitations to this exceptionapply.) Also excepted are individuals hired for employment in theCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on or before Nov. 27, 2009. Although these changes appear minor, they present a good opportunity for employers to review their hiring policies to ensure they are properly completing and retaining Forms I-9.

Government Contracts

However, a company could still find itself liable if it contracts work to a contractor it knows either is or employs unauthorized workers. Some states have laws and ethical rules regarding solicitation and advertisement practices by attorneys and/or other professionals. The National Law Review is not a law firm nor is intended to be a referral service for attorneys and/or other professionals. The NLR does not wish, nor does it intend, to solicit the business of anyone or to refer anyone to an attorney or other professional.

  • The employer, of course, is still liable for errors of their designee in Form I-9 completion.
  • A new Form I-9 can also be completed if major errors need to be corrected.
  • The employer must complete Section 2 within three days of the employee’s starting date at work.
  • So, if an employee only works for one month, you must retain the Form I-9 and the documents thirteen months total.
  • USCIS updated the DHS Privacy Notice to employees, which is included in the form instructions.

Step 3– Next, the employee must specify their residency status by selecting one of the four available boxes. If the employee is a lawful permanent resident, he/she must provide their Alien Registration Number/USCIS Number. If the employee is an alien authorized to work, he/she must specify the expiration date of their work permit and provide either their Alien Registration Number/USCIS Number, Form 1-94 Admission Number, or their Foreign Passport Number . The documents employees must provide generally depend on what they have in order to demonstrate identity and right to work status. Some documents demonstrate one or the other, so the employee may have to provide more than one document. Employers should not “update” their existing Form I-9s to the new form for current employees who already have a properly completed Form I-9, unless re-verification is required.

Ii Changes To Form I

An employer who fails to keep proper records that I-9s are properly filed can be fined $110 per missing item for each form, up to $1100 per form, even if the employee is legally authorized to work in the United States. Since 2009, Immigration & Customs Enforcement has conducted over 7,500 audits and imposed over $80 million in fines. In 2011 alone, ICE conducted 2,740 audits and assessed over $7 million in fines. U.S. citizens who have lost their social security card can apply for a duplicate at the Social Security Administration. One document that establishes identity together with another document that establishes employment eligibility .

E-Verify is a voluntary service provided by the government where a company or individual may submit the form, along with photo ID , to match with the identification listed with the federal government. Enrolling is not recommended as once an employer does, they are not allowed to un-enroll.

What is the E-Verify program?

E-Verify is a web-based system that allows enrolled employers to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States. … E-Verify is a voluntary program.

A “Y” next to the revision date means the form is valid until USCIS issues a new form with a revision date containing an “N”. Federal law prohibits individuals or businesses from contracting with an independent contractor knowing that the independent contractor is not authorized to work in the U.S. Generally speaking, if an employer is audited and discrepancies are found, the inspecting officers present the employer with ten days to remediate the issues. Most of the time, if the employer has been following best practices, correcting these issues such as presenting a Form I-9 for an employee is pretty easy. Don’t rely on articles on the internet (like this one!) for this very important information. Regulations vary based on your customers and other state and local requirements.

Complete And Correct Form I

Section 2 of the form collects, within 3 days of the employee’s hire, identifying information about the employer and information regarding the employee’s identity and employment authorization. The employee must present original documentation evidencing his or her identity and employment authorization, which the employer must review. All U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents and work authorized individuals are protected from national origin discrimination. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has jurisdiction over employers with fifteen or more employees. From Nov. 28, 2009 until Nov. 27, 2011, employers hiring individuals for employment in theCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands used Form I-9 CNMI to verify the identity and employment authorization of each newly hired employee.

old version of i-9 form

Instead, employers should encourage that employee to bring the acceptable documents which are under the List A, B and C. Employers may terminate the employment only if the employee cannot attest the person’s work authorization by bringing the proof after the start date. Every employee hired after November 6, 1986 must complete an I-9 form at the time of hire. Employees must complete Section 1 of the form upon commencing employment.

Employment Authorized

Creating a file or spreadsheet listing all Forms I-9 that need to be reverified by date and reviewing it monthly. If an employee changes his or her name for personal reasons, such as marriage, this change is not required to be captured by updating a Form I-9, although it is allowed. Thus, to avoid extra time and administrative hassle, it is important to get the right version of the form in use timely. More information and documentation can be found in our developer tools pages. These markup elements allow the user to see how the document follows the Document Drafting Handbook that agencies use to create their documents.

Setting company policy as to whether updating the documentation to reflect a name change for personal reasons will be required. As to authorized representatives for the completion of Section 2 of the Form I-9, the new Form I-9 instructions do confirm that any person may be designated to complete and sign the form on the employer’s behalf. The employer, of course, is still liable for errors of their designee in Form I-9 completion. Document page views are updated periodically throughout retained earnings the day and are cumulative counts for this document. Counts are subject to sampling, reprocessing and revision throughout the day. Employee does not check one of the boxes indicating that he or she is a citizen or noncitizen national of the U.S., a lawful permanent resident, or an alien authorized to work until a specified date—or checks multiple boxes attesting to more than one of the above. You may use the instructions below to complete the form or those provided byUSCIS.

Employers use Form I-9 to verify their employees’ employment authorization in the United States. Employers and employees must complete Form I-9, and employees must supply documents establishing their right to work in the United States by the third day of employment. Although USCIS publishes a Spanish language version of the I-9, the Spanish version is only authorized for use in Puerto Rico. Federal law provides for imprisonment or fines for making false statements or using false documents in connection with the completion of the I-9.

The employer cannot specify which document types it will accept from an employee. The document shown for reverification purposes does not need to be the same type of document shown for initial Form I-9 purposes. If a Social Security card is provided, it must not contain any restrictions regarding employment eligibility, such as «Not Valid for Employment.» If it does, the employer may not accept it and must ask the employee to provide another document from either List A or C. If an employee changes his or her name in conjunction with an extended employment authorization, the name change on new work authorization documents must be recorded during the reverification process. Employers must not assume that the employee is unauthorized to work just because the individual either could not bring the proof of employment authorization or has brought the unaccepted documents until the start date of the employment.

This can be done with the onboarding process ahead of time, or most commonly in the morning of the first day along with other paperwork. If you are NOT required to use E-Verify, you may still choose to enroll and use it. The benefits to you as an employer are to be confident that you are complying with Federal Act 274A, which prevents the hiring of known Unauthorized Aliens. The purpose of E-Verify is to confirm the validity of the identity and right-to-work documents by matching the data provided with databases managed by the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security .

Where do I get an I-9 form?

Employers can obtain a blank copy of Form I-9 from the USCIS website at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9. This form is in portable document format (.pdf) that is fillable and savable. That means that you may download it, or simply print out a blank copy to enter information by hand.

The English version of the form is completed, unless the form is being completed in Puerto Rico. Employee does not complete Section 1 by the first day of employment (“date of hire,” meaning the commencement of employment for wages or other remuneration). Independent contractors or individuals providing labor to you if they are employed by a contractor providing contract services . Penalties – The minimum fine for not obtaining the employee’s form in a timely manner is $216 with a maximum of $2,156. Citizenship and Immigration Services published a new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification that all employers must begin using on May 1, 2020. I-9Compliance.com is an electronic I-9 management system which enables paperless signing, management, and storage of I-9 records and related documents.

Citizenship and Immigration Services , and the application has been pending for 75 days, the employee may call the USCIS Contact Centerto request expedited processing. When an employee’s employment authorization or employment authorization documentation expires, employers must reverify to ensure the employee is still authorized to work. Section old version of i-9 form 1 of Form I-9 contains the date that employment authorization expires, and Section 2 contains the date that the employment authorization document expires. In the alternative, the employer may draft an explanation and attach it to the outdated completed Form I-9 explaining that the wrong form was filled out correctly and in good faith.

On the USCIS’s checklist, the heading literally says “Enrolling in E-Verify is easy”, followed by a checklist of 22 items. Examine the documentation to determine if it appears to be genuine and relate to the employee presenting it. If the document does not reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the employee, the employee should be allowed to present other documentation from the List of Acceptable Documents.

Formations Of, Acquisitions By, And Mergers

Highlighting marks, hole punches and staples do not interfere with an authorized official’s ability to read the information on the form. Employer does not complete Section 3 until after the employee’s work authorization has expired.

  • For example, there is no requirement to insert “N/A” in List B and C blanks, when List A is completed in Section 2.
  • If you require legal or professional advice, kindly contact an attorney or other suitable professional advisor.
  • Employers must also retain a Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire, or one year after the date employment ends, whichever is later.
  • Employers in the U.S. which consist of the 50 states and other U.S. territories may use the Spanish version as a translation guide for Spanish-speaking employees, but must complete and keep the English version for their records.
  • If the employee has a name change unrelated to his or her work authorization, no documentation is required to be viewed for updating purposes.
  • An independent contractor is not considered an employee for Form I-9 purposes and does not need to complete Form I-9.
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

E-Verify is an electronic way of using those provided documents to instantly verify that an employee is indeed eligible to work in the US. You may or may not be required to use E-Verify, depending on if you have Federal contracts or subcontracts that contain the Federal Acquisition Regulation E-Verify clause. That said, the government encourages use of E-Verify, so you know that you’re hiring a legal worker.

The employer must complete Section 2 within three days of the employee’s starting date at work. The employer is responsible for ensuring that the forms are completed properly and in a timely manner. Completed by employers for employees who are rehired or whose employment authorization requires reverification. USCIS updated the DHS Privacy Notice to employees, which is included in the form instructions. The major change to the Privacy Notice is the notification that Form I-9 may be made available for inspection, and that DHS may share the information on the form, as appropriate, for law enforcement purposes or in the interest of national security.

old version of i-9 form

Fill out the forms online, which include questions about your company, your users, locations, and how you will access E-Verify. It just means that the names and numbers did NOT match existing records. The employee has the right to contest this outcome, but first, you should double check your entries. Indeed the vast majority of the time this occurs is due to data entry errors when submitting the form.

Trending Legal Analysis

With more than 200 lawyers and professionals, the firm provides regional, full-service capabilities with international strengths. They are intended to be informational and do not constitute legal advice regarding any specific situation. If the employer keeps copies of documents provided for Form I-9 purposes, a copy should be attached to the Form I-9. Lawful permanent residents who presented a permanent resident card (Form I-551) for Section 2.

Only official editions of the Federal Register provide legal notice to the public and judicial notice to the courts under 44 U.S.C. 1503 & 1507.Learn more here. Employers must also retain a Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire, or one year after the date employment ends, whichever is later. Employers must show their employees’ I-9 form any time the immigration or labor authority requests it. Employer does not complete Section 2 by the third business day after the date the employee began employment, or, if the employee is hired for 3 business days or less, at the time the employee started employment. U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement and the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section have provided joint guidance to help employers perform internal audits.

Author: Anna Johansson