New Form I-9 Released for Immediate Use
 
November 13, 2007
 
Kelli A. Fitzgerald- Chicago

On November 7, 2007, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised Form I-9, or Employment Eligibility Verification form, as well as a new M-274, Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9. All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States.

The revised Form I-9 is substantially the same as the Form I-9 that employers have used for years. The only major change concerns the types of identification documents that employers may accept as verification of an individual’s identity and employability. The change is designed to bring Form I-9 in line with the 1997 Interim Designation of Acceptable Documents for Employment Verification published by the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). Form I-9 was not amended to comply with the 1997 Interim Designation until now.

The new Form I-9 lists the following as acceptable documents to demonstrate an individual’s authorization to work in the United States (List A of the List of Acceptable Documents):

• United States Passport (unexpired or expired)

• Alien Registration Receipt Card or Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551)

• An unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp

• An unexpired Employment Authorization Document issued by INS which contains a photograph (Form I-766 – added in 1997, Form I-688, Form I-688A, or Form I-688B)

• An unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94) bearing the same name as the passport and containing an endorsement of the alien’s nonimmigrant status, if that status authorizes the alien to work for the employer

Any one of these documents may be used to verify an individual’s eligibility to work.

Employers will find that five documents have been removed from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)

• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)

• Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151)

• Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327)

• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)

The instructions for the new Form I-9 also explain that an employee is not required to provide his or her Social Security number in Section 1 unless the employer is participating in the USCIS Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify).

USCIS Recommends That Employers Immediately Begin Using the New Form I-9

Although use of the new form will not formally be required until notice is published in the Federal Register, the USCIS has stated that it intends to cease accepting the old Form I-9 as of December 5, 2007. Furthermore, employers that fail to use the new Form I-9 after the effective date (as established by publication in the Federal Register) may incur fines and penalties.

The new Form I-9 can be accessed at the USCIS Web site at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf and the new M-274 Handbook is at http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/m-274.pdf.

For more information, email Kelli Fitzgerald at kelli.fitzgerald@hklaw.com or call toll free, 1-888-688-8500.