On January 31, 2020, USCIS published the Form I-9 Federal Register notice announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, approved by the Office of Management and Budget on October 21, 2019. The new version contains minor changes to the form and its instructions. Beginning January 31, 2020, employers should begin using this updated form.
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. Thereafter, 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.
Use Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must properly complete Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States, including citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers, or authorized representatives of the employer), must complete the form.
On the form, an employee must attest to their employment authorization. The employee must also present their employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form. Employers must retain Form I-9 for a designated period and make it available for inspection by authorized government officers.
USCIS made the following changes to the form and its instructions:
- Clarified who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer.
- Updated USCIS website addresses.
- Provided clarifications on acceptable documents for Form I-9.
- Updated the process for requesting paper Forms I-9.
- Updated the DHS Privacy Notice.
For more information, visit I-9 Central.