September 10, 2009
Previously published on August 2009
On August 27, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a minor revision to the Form I-9. The new version is fillable online and now bears an expiration date of 8/31/2012 in the upper right corner. No substantive changes were made, either to the form or to the list of acceptable identity and work eligibility documents. The Form's revision date, which appears in the lower right corner of the form, is now 8/7/09. Although all employers are encouraged to begin using the new 8/7/09 version immediately, for now it is still acceptable to use the previous, 2/2/09 version.
The new Form I-9 is available online at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-9.pdf.
All employers in the United States are required, under the Immigration & Nationality Act, to use the Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment eligibility of each new employee (both citizen and noncitizen) hired after November 6, 1986. A Form I-9 must be kept for each employee for three years after the date of hire or one year after the employment ends, whichever is later. Failure to complete and maintain I-9 forms for all employees can result in federal, civil and criminal penalties.
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