Revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 Available in sharedHR for Immediate Use
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on November 7th, 2007 that a revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) is now available for immediate use.
Who is Affected?
All employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee that is hired in the United States.
Where to Find the New Information on sharedHR
The new Form I-9, (Rev. 06/05/07)N, can be found in the New Hire Package of the Recruiting & Hiring section of the Document Library. There is nothing you need to do as a sharedHR client as long as you have not uploaded a custom document. (If you have uploaded a custom document you will need to review the new Form I-9 against your custom version). This new document replaces the previous Form I-9 and your document settings will remain the same.
The Employer Handbook: Instructions for Completing the Form I-9 (M-274) is available in the Compliance & Training Section of the Document Library. (You will need to be in the "Manage Library Documents" mode to turn this on for your site since the Handbook is a newly available document).
A link to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website can be found under Federal Government Sites in the Resource Links.
Clients who have purchased compliance in Puerto Rico also receive the new Spanish version of the Form I-9 (located in the New Hire Package of the Recruiting & Hiring section of the Document Library).
When Do Employers Need to Start Using the New Form I-9?
Immediately. For any employees hired on or after November 7th, 2007, the new Form I-9 is the only version of the form that is valid for use.
Please note: the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will publish a Notice in the Federal Register providing employers with a 30-day grace period, commencing on November 7th 2007, to transition to the new Form I-9. After this time, employers who do not use the new Form I-9 may be subject to penalties under section 274A of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1324a, enforced by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The new Form I-9 is available in English and Spanish. Only employers in Puerto Rico may have employees complete the new Spanish or English version for their records. Employers in the 50 states and other U.S. territories (apart from Puerto Rico), may use the new Spanish version as a translation guide only. The new English version must be completed and retained for their records.
Do Employers Need to Complete the New Form I-9 for Existing Employees?
No. The new Form I-9 does not need to be completed for employees who were hired prior to November 7th 2007. If re-verification of an employee is required, then employers do need to use the new Form I-9.
What has Changed?
5 documents have been removed from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents. These are no longer acceptable documents for employment verification. These 5 documents are:
Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561)
Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151)
Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327)
Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)
1 document has been added to List A of the List of Acceptable Documents. This is an Unexpired Employment Authorization Document (I-766).
All the Employment Authorization Documents with photographs have been grouped as one item on List A, i.e. I-688, I-688A, I-688B, I-766.
Employees are no longer required to provide their Social Security Number in Section 1 of the Form I-9, unless their employer participates in E-Verify. Further information regarding this point can be found in the new Employer Handbook (M-274).
Information about electronic signatures and retaining the Form I-9 has been added to the new Employer Handbook (M-274), in the "Photocopying and Retaining" section.
Why has the Form I-9 Changed?
Interestingly, the Form I-9 has been out of compliance with the requirements of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) for some 11 years.
The IIRIRA imposed a reduction in the number of documents that were acceptable as proof of eligibility to work in the U.S. In 1997, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) published an interim final rule that took out some of the documents that the IIRIRA wanted removed. The new Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07)N is now in compliance with the 1997 regulation, and closer to the requirements of the IIRIRA in reducing the number of documents that an employee can provide to their employer as proof of identity and work eligibility.
Where Can I Find Further Information?
Further information can be found on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, www.uscis.gov (which is also available in the Federal Government Sites section of the Resource Links in sharedHR).
