If you’re a business owner in the United States, you’re likely familiar with Form I-9, the Employment Eligibility Verification form. It’s essential to the hiring process, ensuring all your employees, both citizens and non-citizens, are authorized to work in the U.S.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updates Form I-9 every few years though, and the latest revision will go into effect on August 1, 2023.
What Do the Form I-9 Revisions Include?
The most obvious change is that the form is much shorter, but the USCIS made other updates to it as well. The new Form I-9:
- Reduces relevant sections to a single-sided sheet;
- Allows the form to be fillable on tablets and mobile devices;
- Allows for certain certification, reverifications or rehires to be a standalone supplement that employers can provide to employees, if necessary;
- Reduces Form instructions;
- Revises the lists of acceptable documents; and
- Includes a checkbox to allow employers to indicate remote or virtual procedures.
Temporary COVID 19 Flexibilities End July 31, 2023
Along with the above revisions, the USCIS also ended the temporary COVID-19 flexibilities that allowed employers to virtually or remotely inspect employee-submitted Form I-9 documents. If your business inspected documents virtually or remotely under the temporary COVID-19 flexibilities, you have until Aug. 30, 2023, to conduct in-person, physical document inspection and annotate the Form I-9 for each employee whose documents were inspected via video, email, fax, etc.
Can You Still Inspect Documents Remotely?
On August 1, 2023, virtual or remote inspection of documents may continue under a new “Alternative Procedure” for a Qualified Employer.
What’s a Qualified Employer?
A Qualified Employer is an employer who is a participant in good standing, in E-Verify, is enrolled in E-Verify with respect to all hiring sites in the U.S. and is in compliance with all requirements with the E-Verify program. Among other things, a Qualified Employer will annotate “Alternative Procedure” on the old Form I-9 or “Additional Information” on the new Form I-9, retain all I-9 documents that are examined remotely with the employee’s Form I-9, and create a case in E-Verify for the employee.
View the New Form I-9
Click here to access the new Form I-9 available August 1, 2023. Employers will be allowed to use the old form until October 31, 2023.
When Does the New Form I-9 Go Into Effect?
The new form I-9 goes into effect August 31, 2023, but there is a grace period for businesses to adopt it. It is mandatory that beginning November 1, 2023, all employers must use the new Form I-9. Failure to use the new Form I-9 will subject employers to penalties.
If you have questions related to this or other issues related to employment compliance and law, please call Jose Espejo at (301) 251-1180.
