What You Need to Know About Form I-9

The Immigration Reform and Control Act requires all U.S. employers to complete a Form I-9 verifying eligibility to work in the U.S. for every employee hired after Nov. 6, 1986.

COVERED EMPLOYERS

All U.S. employers, regardless of size, must comply with Form I-9 requirements.

COMPLETING FORM I-9

• Section 1: Employees must complete Section 1 of Form I-9 on the first day of employment and must present acceptable documents proving identity and work authorization to the employer within three days of the first day of employment.
• Section 2: Employers or their representative must physically examine the document(s) and complete Section 2 of Form I-9 within three days of the employee's first day of employment. Remote examination of documents is permitted for employers enrolled in E-Verify if certain conditions are met.
• Supplement B: This page is completed by the employer only when an employee's work authorization expires, a legal name change occurs, or an individual is separated from employment and later rehired. 
  

ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTS

An employee must show his or her employer a document from List A (which shows both identity and employment authorization) or one document from List B (which shows identity) and one document from List C (which shows employment authorization) or an acceptable receipt of those documents.

REHIRES

If an employee is rehired within three years from the date his or her previous Form I-9 was completed, the employer may either update the existing form or complete a new one. However, if a new version of Form I-9 has been issued, the employee must provide documents from the current list of acceptable documents and the employer must complete the current version of Form I-9 and retain it with the previously completed I-9.

REVERIFICATION

Employers must reverify an employee's employment authorization no later than the date the employment authorization expires. Certain documents show permanent work authorization and do not need to be reverified.

ELECTRONIC FORMS

Employers are permitted to utilize an electronic version of Form I-9 and obtain electronic signatures.

RECORD RETENTION

I-9 forms should be retained for three years after the date of hire or one year after the date employment ends, whichever is later. Employers may choose to scan and upload original, signed I-9 forms to store them electronically.

E-VERIFY

E-Verify allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. 

COMMON ISSUES

CORRECTING ERRORS

Employers should regularly audit their I-9 forms and make corrections as needed.

REQUESTING SPECIFIC DOCUMENTS

Employers must allow employees to choose which documents to present from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' list of acceptable documents when completing or reverifying Form I-9.

FALSE IDENTIFICATION

If an employer learns that an employee used false documents for Form I-9, the employer will need to take appropriate action.

RETAINING DOCUMENT COPIES

Employers that do not participate in E-Verify are not required to keep copies of employee documents but may choose to do so.

REMOTE WORKERS

When an employee is hired and working at a remote location, employers may choose to designate a representative to review the worker's original documents and complete Section 2 on behalf of the employer. Employers enrolled in E-Verify may inspect an employee's documents remotely if certain conditions are met.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Employers that are acquiring employees from another entity may choose to complete new I-9 forms for all new employees or keep the previous employer's completed forms.

NEW VERSIONS OF FORM I-9

The most recent version of the I-9 form must be used when completing an I-9 form for a new hire, when reverifying employment authorization for an employee, when correcting errors and omissions on a previous form, or for any other reason the I-9 is being updated.

EXCLUSIONS

Certain individuals, such as independent contractors and employees not working within the U.S., do not need to complete an I-9 form. 

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