On July 17th, 2017, USCIS released a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form. On September 18th, 2017, employers must use the revised form with the revision date of 07/17/17 N. Employers can continue using the older Form I-9 with a revision date of 11/14/16 N through September 17th. Employers must continue following existing storage and retention rules for any previously completed Form I-9.
Form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of all individuals hired for employment in the United States, whether the individual is a US citizens or not. All U.S. employers (or authorized representatives of the Employer) must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. Additionally, each employee must attest to his or her employment authorization on the Form I-9. The employee must also present his or her employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) which the employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine on their face and relate to the employee and to the recorded document information on the Form I-9.
USCIS Modifies the List of Acceptable Documents for Form I-9 to Include the Following Changes:
• Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) was added to List C.
• Combined all the certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS-1350, and Form FS-240) into selection C #2 in List C.
• Renumbered all List C documents except the Social Security card.
USCIS Modifies the Wording of Form I-9 Instructions to include the following changes:
• The name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices was changed to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
• Removed “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”
The USCIS publication entitled Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274) is available to provide assistance with completing the new Form I-9 and the new version of Form I-9 is available on the USCIS website: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9.
Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C., assists clients, their families and HR Professionals in organizations of all sizes with a variety of U.S. Immigration and Nationality law issues, including the preparation of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas and management of I-9 Audits and Investigations. We welcome you to visit our website at www.visaserve.com; send an inquiry to info@visaserve.com; or call our office at 201-670-0006.