On Jan. 31, 2020, USCIS published the Form I-9 Federal Register notice announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, that the Office of Management and Budget approved on Oct. 21, 2019. This new version contains minor changes to the form and its instructions. Employers should begin using this updated form as of Jan. 31, 2020.
The notice provides employers additional time to make necessary updates and adjust their business processes. Employers may continue using the prior version of the form (Rev. 07/17/2017 N) until April 30, 2020. After that date, they can only use the new form with the 10/21/2019 version date. The version date is located in the lower left corner of the form.
USCIS made the following changes to the form and its instructions:
Form:
Revised the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the Issuing Authority field (when selecting a foreign passport) in Section 2 to add Eswatini and Macedonia, North per those countries’ recent name changes. (Note: This change is only visible when completing the fillable Form I-9 on a computer.)
Instructions:
- Clarified who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer
- You may designate an authorized representative to act on your behalf to complete Section 2. An authorized representative can be any person you designate to complete and sign Form I-9 on your behalf. You are liable for any violations in connection with the form or the verification process, including any violations of the employer sanctions laws committed by the person designated to act on your behalf
- Updated USCIS website addresses
- Provided clarifications on acceptable documents for Form I-9
- Added a notation which indicates that the List C Employment Authorization Document issued by DHS (List C #7) “does not include the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) from List A.”
- Added a new instruction noting that the List B ID card issued by federal, state, or local government agencies or entities “does not include the driver’s license or ID card issued by a State or outlying possession of the United States as described in B1 of the List of Acceptable Documents.”
- Updated the process for requesting paper Forms I-9
- Updated the DHS Privacy Notice
A revised Spanish version of Form I-9 with a version date of 10/21/2019 is available for use in Puerto Rico only.
Join Form I-9 Compliance on April 23rd at 10am PT while we discuss your Form I-9 Remote options as well as today’s “Virtual Verification” during the current crisis. We will have recommendations for you to ensure remote workforce compliance. Plus, a live Question and Answer session. Register now!
