On Friday, March 8, 2013, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security finally issued the long-awaited updated I-9 Form. The old form can still be used for two months until May 7, 2013. The new I-9 form is available here.
The I-9 form is used to verify work authorization of new hires in the U.S. as well to re-verify work authorization of foreign nationals working with temporary work authorization. The new and old forms are very similar in content. However, unlike the old one-page form, the new form is 3 pages long and easier to understand and fill out. The new form also clearly differentiates between employees who only need to be verified once (U.S. Citizens and permanent and foreign nationalswho are here temporarily and must be re-verified whenever their work authorization expires.
Regarding the list of acceptable documents that an employee tenders, the new form emphasizes that if a social security card is selected by the employee as a List C document, only an unrestricted social security card is acceptable.If the social security card has any restrictive language on it, it cannot be used for I-9 purposes since the individual may have obtained it when they had temporary work authorization and now no longer do.
Although there is a Spanish version of the I-9 form as well, it may only be used in Puerto Rico.
As a reminder, at the time of hire, employers must inspect an original document chosen by the employee from List A, or one each from Lists B and C.It must be done within the first 3 days of hire.It is recommended that copies of the documents be attached and retained to the I-9 as further proof of the good faith efforts by the Employer to comply with the mandate.If the documents appear to be authentic, then the employer will not be liable if it later turns out they are not authentic.The I-9 forms should be retained for 3 years after termination of employment.Employers who have enrolled in E-Verify must still have a paper or digital I-9 on file for every employee.
Employers are encouraged to periodically audit their I-9’s and take corrective action where errors are found.
posted by Tiffany Haslacker
03/12/2013
