New I-9 Form Must Be Used Beginning Today: April 3, 2009

The Department of Homeland Security has amended its regulations governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents and receipts that employees may present to employers for completion of the Form I-9. 

Employers must use the new Form I-9 (dated 02/02/09 in footer) for all new hires and re-verifications beginning today, April 3, 2009. The prior edition of Form I-9 (dated 06/05/2007) will no longer be valid for use as of today. Employers that continue to use the 06/05/2007 edition of Form I-9 on or after April 3, 2009, may be subject to civil money penalties. A copy of the new Form I-9 is available here:  http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.   

So what has changed? The new Form I-9:

1. Requires that all documents presented during the verification process be unexpired;
2. Eliminates identity and employment authorization documentation Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B (Temporary Resident Card and outdated Employment Authorization Cards) from List A;
3. Adds foreign passports containing certain machine-readable immigrant visas to List A;
4. Adds to List A as evidence of identity and employment authorization valid passports for citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia ("FSM") and the Republic of the Marshall Islands ("RMI"), along with Form I-94 or I-94A indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the FSM or RMI; and
5. Makes technical updates to make the language on the Form I-9 consistent with the regulations.

What this means to you:  As of today, April 3, 2009, employers must use the new Form I-9 for all new hires and re-verifications. In doing this, employers will need to pay particular attention to the new documentation requirements on the "List of Acceptable Documents" to ensure that they are complying with the new regulations. 

Important:  Employers need to complete the revised version of the Form I-9 only for new employees and for existing employees who require re-verification as a result of expiring employment authorization. If an individual's employment authorization expires, the employer must re-verify the employee's work eligibility using the new Form I-9; otherwise, the individual may no longer be employed. In this situation, re-verification on the new Form I-9 must occur not later than the date that the employee's work authorization expires. If an existing employee's employment authorization has not expired, however, the employer should not be completing a new Form I-9 for such an employee.