U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a newly revised Employed Eligibility Verification form, Form I-9. All employers are required to use this Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization eligibility of their employees, after a job offer has been accepted, by completing Section 1 of the form no later than the first day of employment. The employee then has three days to present documents to establish their identity and authorization to work in the United States in order to complete Section 2.
Note that the full instructions for the I-9 form and the List of Acceptable Documents should be presented to the employee for their review in completing the form.
Employers do not need to complete the new Form I-9 for current employees for whom there is already a properly completed Form I-9 on file, unless re verification applies. Unnecessary verification may violate anti-discrimination rules.
Effective May 7, 2013, prior versions of Form I can no longer by used by the public. After May 7, 2013, employers who do not use Form I-9 may be subject to all applicable penalties, as enforced by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DOJ.
The changes to Form I-9 are improvements designed to minimize errors in form completion. The key revisions to Form I-9 include:
- Adding data fields, including the employee’s foreign passport information (if applicable), telephone number, and email address.
- Improving the form’s instructions.
- Revising the layout of the form, expanding the form from one to two pages (not including the Instructions and the List of Acceptable Documents).
The new Form I-9 and an updated version of the “Handbook for Employers, Guidance for Completing Form I-9” are available at: http://www.uscis.gov/i-9.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational purposes only an is not intended to provide legal advice.