Immigration and Compliance Briefing: Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Policy Changes and Updates

Temporary Acceptability of Expired List B Identity Documents for Form I-9

The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) has issued a temporary policy change as of May 1, 2020 regarding Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification, List B identity documents.  Given that it may not be possible to renew state driver’s licenses, ID cards, and other acceptable List B identity documents during COVID-19 closures and restrictions, for any such documents that expire on or after March 1, 2020, the following policies apply:

• If the expired document is not automatically extended by the issuing authority, the employer may accept that document and treat it the same as a valid receipt for an acceptable document for Form I-9 purposes.  The employee must present a valid, unexpired document from List A or List B within 90 days after the termination of this temporary policy.

• If the expired document is automatically extended by the issuing authority, the employer may accept that document and treat it the same as an acceptable, unexpired document for Form I-9 purposes.

• E-Verify employers should create an E-Verify case within three days of the date of hire, using the employee’s expired List B document number.

Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Updates

Employers should take note of several recent Form I-9 updates below and be sure to review applicable internal practices for hiring and re-verifying employees:

• As of May 1, 2020 all employers must use only the 10/21/2019 edition of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

• On April 27, 2020 a revised M-274, Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 was released.  There is a summary of changes available online at I-9 Central.

• DHS has posted a COVID-19 Q&A section at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/questions-and-answers-related-temporary-policies-form-i-9-and-e-verify.

Please also refer to Form I-9 instructions and updates available at:  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/whats-new.