New I-9 Published Today

On Jan. 31, 2020, USCIS published the Form I-9 Federal Register notice announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, that the Office of Management and Budget approved on Oct. 21, 2019. This new version contains minor changes to the form and its instructions. Employers should begin using this updated form as of Jan. 31, 2020.

The notice provides employers additional time to make necessary updates and adjust their business processes. Employers may continue using the prior version of the form (Rev. 07/17/2017 N) until April 30, 2020. After that date, they can only use the new form with the 10/21/2019 version date. The version date is located in the lower left corner of the form.

USCIS made the following changes to the form and its instructions:

Form:

Revised the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the Issuing Authority field (when selecting a foreign passport) in Section 2 to add Eswatini and Macedonia, North per those countries’ recent name changes. (Note: This change is only visible when completing the fillable Form I-9 on a computer.)

Instructions:

  • Clarified who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer
  • Updated USCIS website addresses
  • Provided clarifications on acceptable documents for Form I-9
  • Updated the process for requesting paper Forms I-9
  • Updated the DHS Privacy Notice

A revised Spanish version of Form I-9 with a version date of 10/21/2019 is available for use in Puerto Rico only.

For more information, visit I-9 Central or join a free Form I-9 webinar

How’s your I-9 Compliance?

One of the issues discussed at this year’s state unit meetings was that of the new I-9 Employment eligibility form. The I-9 form must be filled out by every new hire or rehire before going to work and they must present documents proving they are eligible to work by the 3rd day of work. This seems simple enough but the I-9 is one form that has employed countless attorneys and whole careers have been made defending employers and keeping employers in compliance with this deceptively simple form.

In addition to the new form coming out, another reason to pay attention to this form is concern among employment law attorneys that the Trump administration will pick up where the Bush administration left off with workplace raids and employer audits. We haven’t seen that much yet and no gins that I know of have been subject to USCIS audit but there has been a slight increase in the number of employer audits in a number of industries. They aren’t widespread but it is typical for Republican administrations to be a bit more tough on illegal immigration and with the rhetoric during the campaign, we should be on guard.

The USCIS has created some decent resources in its I-9 Central Page. This is a page that is dedicated to helping employers and employees complete the I-9 properly and helping to Continue reading

Don’t Forget the New I-9

Back in March, we posted the new highly anticipated I-9 Form. The new form was introduced on March 8 and had to be in use by May 8. Just to repeat ALL EM

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PLOYERS MUST USE THE NEW FORM STARTING MAY 8, 2013. So you will all need to have the new form on hand for any new hires.

There are some issues that you might want to get a refresher on so I would like to recommend a webinar by Tommy Eden from the Constangy, Brooks and Smith law firm. Tommy is in the Auburn, AL area and the recorded webinar is co-hosted by the Executive Continue reading

New I-9 Announced

The US Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced the release of a new for I-9 today. All employers in the US use this form to verify an employee’s identity and eligibility to work. A draft of the new form was released about a year ago and the USCIS received numerous comments on the form. It was thought that the release of the new form had been delayed not only due to the many comments but also to see if comprehensive immigration reform would move through Congress. While many discussions on a framework and goals have been floated, nothing concrete has been proposed and the USCIS released the new form this morning.

The new I-9 can be used immediately but older forms may be used until May 7, 2013. After May 7, you must us only the new I-9 for new hires. The old forms expired in 2012 and has a revision date of 8/7/09. The NEW I-9 has a revision date of (Rev. 03/08/13). More information on the new I-9 can be found at www.uscis.gov/I-9Central.

The website and form are NOT live at this point and I will update the blog and link as they are updated.

The new I-9 expands the form to 2 pages and includes a few additional fields such as an employee’s foreign passport information if applicable and email address. There are also revised instructions and revised document lists.

Again, you may use the old form only until May 7, then you must use the new I-9. We will update you as more details become available but as we discussed at the August Meetings, the new form would be coming and we’d let you know as soon as possible.

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