January 03, 2014

The verification procedure requires employers to verify the identity and authorized status of every employee. This process must be documented by completing an I-9 Form (“Employment Eligibility Verification Form”) for every person the employer hires, regardless of the person’s purported or apparent citizenship.

To complete this form, the employer must review original unexpired documents from the employee and verify the employee’s identity and employability. In completing the I-9 Form, the employer must list the following information about the documents presented by the employee:

1. title,
2. issuing authority,
3. number, and
4. expiration date, if any.

The employer also must state on the I-9 Form the date that employment begins. The form must be completed after the offer of employment. While the regulations technically require the employee to complete Section 1 of the Form I-9 on the first day of employment, the regulations allow the employer three business days after hiring the employee to complete the I-9 Form. If an employee properly presents a receipt for a replacement document as the employee's I-9 document for completing the initial I-9, the employer must update the I-9 Form within 90 days of the presentation of the receipt. An employer must complete the entire I-9 form by the start of employment for employees who will work three days or less.

Generally, if any of the documents demonstrating temporary work authorization expire during the employment, the employer must update the I-9 Form before the temporary work authorization expires.

Section 1 of the I-9 Form must be completed by the employee. The employee must complete, sign, and date this section. The employee must fill out one the four boxes regarding citizenship.

If the employee does not read English, a translator/preparer can be used to complete

Section 1. The employee still must sign his or her name, and the translator/preparer must sign the bottom of section 1. In the event of an investigation, ICE may interview the translator/preparer.

The current I-9 Form contains a non-inclusive list of various documents that satisfy the purposes of verifying identity and verifying eligibility to work in the United States. All documents must be unexpired on the day they are used to complete the I-9 Form. Moreover, the I-9 Form breaks down the various documents into three columns -- A, B, and C, as discussed below.

Column A lists documents that establish both the employee’s identity and authorized status. These include such documents as a U.S. Passport, Lawful Permanent Resident Card, and

Employment Authorization Card. Various other documents are acceptable. A complete list of acceptable documents is contained on the reverse side of the I-9 Form in Appendix A. If an employee cannot present a single document demonstrating both identity and authorized status, the employer must accept two documents that together demonstrate the employee’s identity and authorized status. The documents demonstrating identity are listed in Column B on the I-9 Form and include valid drivers’ licenses or voter registration cards. Documents demonstrating authorized status are Column C documents, and include social security cards or certified birth certificates.

Many employers choose to photocopy the original documents presented by the employee and attach the copies to the Form I-9, but they are not required to do so. As more fully discussed below, maintaining copies of the back-up documentation may be harmful to employers if ICE investigates your company and reviews copies of the documents reviewed by your company personnel. Currently federal law does not require companies to photocopy documents used for identification.

Both the employer and employee must attest to the Form I-9 under penalty of perjury. The employee verifies that he or she is a United States citizen, a noncitizen national, a permanent resident, or authorized to work in the United States on a temporary basis, and that he or she has presented legitimate documents.

The employer merely verifies that it has reviewed the documents submitted by the employee, and that the documents reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the person presenting them. Employers may obtain a revised M-274 Handbook for Employers dated March 2013, which is the last published guidance for employers.

Employers must maintain I-9 forms for all current employees. Employers may not knowingly use, possess, obtain, accept or receive any forged, counterfeit, altered, or falsely made document submitted by an employee to comply with these verification procedures.