New I-9 Employment Verification Form from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Saturday, March 9, 2013

On March 8, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released its new I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) form that all employers are required to use to verify the identity and employment authorization eligibility of their employees.

Previously a one-page form, the 03/08/2013 version is now a two-page form. According to DHS, the revised Form I-9 makes improvements designed to minimize errors in form completion. The key revisions to Form I-9 include:

adding data fields, including the employee's foreign passport information (if applicable), telephone, and email addresses;
improving the form's instructions;
revising the layout of the form, expanding the form from one to two pages (not including the form instructions and the List of Acceptable Documents).

DHS’ announcement informs all employers that they should now begin using Form I-9 with a revision date of “(Rev. 03/08/13)N” to comply with their employment eligibility verification responsibilities. (The revision date is located in the bottom right-hand corner of the form.)

After May 7, 2013, all prior versions of Form I-9 may no longer be used, and employers who fail to use the new I-9 from will be subject to enforcement and penalties under federal immigration law.

While DHS’ announcement instructs employer that they “must use the new Form I-9 immediately,” the government acknowledges that “some employers may need additional time in order to make necessary updates to their business processes to allow for use of the new Form I-9” and that modifications to electronic systems may be particularly necessary for employers using electronic I-9 forms. Employers therefore have 60 days to phase in use of the new I-9.

The new I-9 form is available here.

 

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