All employers must have newly hired employees complete a I-9 form to establish their identity and their right to work in the United States. The I-9 form has been revised many times and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security just issued an updated I-9 Form.
While the old form is very similar in content to the new form, the new form is 3 pages long and easier to complete. The new form also clearly differentiates between employees who only need to be verified once (U.S. Citizens and permanent residents) and those employees who are here temporarily, such as foreign nationals, and must be re-verified whenever their work authorization expires.
The recently updated I-9 also addresses the list of acceptable documents that an employee presents. For example, if an employee presents a Social Security card 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.
Although there is a Spanish version of the I-9 form as well, it may only be used in Puerto Rico.
The employer remains obligated to inspect the original document chosen by the employee from List A which complies with the Identity and Right to Work component, or one each from Lists B and C.
The I-9 must be completed within the first 3 days of hire. If an employee is not able to provide the necessary documents within the 3 day time limit, they cannot continue to be employed until such time that the proper documentation is produced.
Employers may maintain copies of the documents that are provided and attach them to the I-9 as proof of the good faith efforts by the Employer to comply with the mandate.
Employers are only required to verify that the documents appear to be authentic.
Employers MUST complete the required portion of the I-9 form and sign it as well. If the employer complies, the employer will likely not be liable if it later turns out the documents produced are not authentic.
I-9 forms should be retained for 3 years after separation of employment. The Forms may be kept either in the employee’s personnel file or a separate file for the I-9’s.
Employers who have enrolled in E-Verify must still have a paper or digital I-9 on file for every employee.
The prior form can still be used until May 7, 2013. The new I-9 form is available at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.