The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is publishing a revised Form I-9. Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of an individual who is hired to work in the United States. Although both employee and employer fill out sections of the form, it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure Form I-9 is correctly completed for each individual hired for employment.
Form I-9 Updates
Going Electronic
E-Verify Checkbox: In July of 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) modernized employment eligibility verification by allowing remote verification of employees’ identity and employment authorization documents. According to the DHS website, “Rather than examining an employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in person, employers who participate in E-Verify and are in good standing will have the option to conduct verification electronically and with a live video call interaction.” In Alabama, it is mandatory to use E-Verify. The new I-9 will include a checkbox to allow employers to indicate they examined Form I-9 documentation remotely under a DHS-authorized alternative procedure rather than via physical examination.
Fillable: The I-9 update will be a fillable form that can be completed on tablets and mobile devices.
Simplification Updates
Shorter: The form will now have only 8 pages of instructions instead of 15. The form itself will also be reduced to a single one-sided sheet. Sections 1 and 2 will contain more narrow fields to write answers.
Section 1: The Preparer/Translator Certification paragraph will no longer be included in §1. This will now be a separate, standalone supplement that employers can provide to employees when necessary.
Section 2: §2 contains the new checkbox in the Additional Information field for employers to mark if they examined documents using the DHS authorized alternative procedure to remotely verify documents (as described above).
Section 3: Similar to the change in §1, in §3 the Reverification and Rehire information is removed from the form and will now be a separate, standalone supplement that employers can print if or when rehire occurs or reverification is required.
No more N/A
New hires and employers are no longer required to enter “N/A” in fields that do not apply. Employers were previously subject to fines for failing to ensure “N/A” was entered.
New Acceptable Documents
The I-9 List of Acceptable Documents will now include:
- A summary of when certain valid receipts may be accepted for documents listed under List A, List B, or List C; and
- A statement that DHS will consider documents that are extended by the issuing authority (e.g., a state department of motor vehicles) to be unexpired.
I-9 Central
Overall, it appears the changes heading our way for the Form I-9 are designed to simplify the employment verification paperwork process. If you would like to read more, please visit the USCIS I-9 Central.
DHS is allowing employers three months to transition to the new version of Form I-9. Employers may lawfully continue to use the existing version of Form I-9 (issuance date of October 21, 2019) through the end of business on October 31, 2023. By November 1, 2023, all employers must use the new version of Form I-9 for new hires and reverifications.
Crissy Bonifay
Crissy is Avizo’s payroll pro. Having been with the firm for 25 years, she’s developed many talents, and we rely on her to be our go-to guide for payroll deadlines, processes, and software.
