Form I-9 Compliance Updates

Employers are required by law to verify that new hires are authorized to work in the United States by completing the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. For foreign nationals who hold temporary forms of work authorization, employers are also required to “re-verify” those foreign nationals’ employment authorization whenever their status changes.

 

In our August 2023 client update on the subject of I-9 compliance, we shared that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended the COVID-19 temporary flexibilities for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, on July 31, 2023, and that employers had until August 30, 2023, to complete in-person physical document inspections for all employees whose documents were inspected remotely during the temporary flexibilities period that ran from March 2020 through July 2023. For guidance on how employers can notate remote inspections and subsequent physical inspections, please follow USCIS guidelines here.

 

Please make note of the following recent updates to the I-9 compliance procedures.

 

First, USCIS has released a new version of the I-9 form. The new form may be used starting now, and must be used on/after November 1, 2023.

 

Second, ICE previously announced that employers had until August 30, 2023, to physically inspect all documents that had been examined remotely using the COVID-19 flexibilities. On July 25, 2023, however, DHS announced in a Federal Register Notice an alternative procedure for Form I-9 which applies only to existing employees whose documents were examined remotely during the period of COVID-19 flexibilities for companies enrolled in E-Verify. Please review the criteria and rules laid out here, and let your M&E attorney know if you have any questions about I-9 verification moving forward.

 

For anyone who does not qualify for the exception above, I-9 verification is required no later than the first day of employment and it must be a physical inspection of the I-9 documents for all employees.

 

If you have any questions or are unsure if your company has met I-9 reporting requirements, please reach out to your attorney at McCown & Evans to set up a call.