In November 2015, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced proposed changes to the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The Office of Management and Budget recently approved the final version of the new Form I-9, and the USCIS must publish a revised version by November 22, 2016.
Pending publication of the new form the current I-9 form, which has an expiration date of March, 2016, is still valid and should continue to be used by all employers to verify that the newly hired employee is legally authorized to work in the United States. The USCIS stated that employers can use this version until January 21, 2017. After January 21, 2017, all previous versions of the Form I-9 will be invalid.
It is important to remember to have a newly hired employee complete the I-9 Form within 3 business days of the date of hire. After the employee has completed their portion of the Form, the employer must fully complete the remaining portions and maintain the form on file – either in the employee’s personnel file or a separate file devoted to I-9 forms.
Increased Fines
Fines associated with failure to comply with Form I-9 requirements have increased recently with some penalties nearly twice as high as before.
Previously, fines for failure to properly complete, retain and/or make the forms available for inspection ranged from $110 to $1,100 per violation. Now, these paperwork violations carry fines ranging from $216 to $2,156 per violation.
In addition, several other fines have increased as follows:
- Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ workers who are not authorized to work in the United States carries civil penalties ranging from $589 to $21,563 per violation, depending on whether it’s a first or subsequent offense.
- Engaging in unfair immigration-related employment practices carries a penalty of $445 to $17,816 per violation, depending on whether it’s a first or subsequent offense.
- Document abuse (requiring employees to produce more or different documentation than the law requires) carries a minimum fine of $178 to $1,783 per violation.
- Document fraud can carry penalties from $376 to $7,512 per document, depending on the type of fraud and whether it’s a first or subsequent offense.
Federal Crackdown
Federal agencies have been cracking down on employers who engage in I-9 immigration violations and discriminate against new hires during the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process. Federal agencies also scrutinize employers’ paperwork during the Form I-9 process.
Unlawful Immigration Practices
Under the I-9 process, all workers, including non-U.S. citizens, must be allowed to choose whichever valid documentation they would like to present from the I-9 lists of acceptable documents to present to their employer. For example, an employee can choose to present a driver’s license to establish their identity and an unrestricted Social Security card, to prove their work authorization. Or an employee can present a U.S. Passport to show identity and U.S. Citizenship for proof of eligibility.
An employer may not limit an employee’s choice of what documentation to present nor require more or different documentation because of their citizenship or immigration status.
There are several resources available to employers on the USCIS website. https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central
What Do I Do Now?
- Continue to use the current I-9 form showing an expiration date of 3/31/16 until January 21 , 2017.
- Obtain a copy of the new I-9 form prior to January 21, 2017 and begin using the new form at that time.
- Be sure the forms are completed in their entirety correctly.
- Train employees responsible for completing Forms I-9 to ensure that forms are timely and accurately completed.
- Permit employees to determine which documents he or she will present from the lists of acceptable Form I-9 documents.