What’s New With the New I-9?

The I-9 form is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States.

The form must be completed by all US employers for every individual that they hire domestically. Both employees and employers are required to accurately complete the form. Failure to do so, or do so properly can result in an audit and/or fine.

On January 31st, a New Form I-9 was released by the USCIS. The form contains “minor changes” from the prior form and should be used for all I-9 verifications going forward. Employers are allowed to use the former version of the form (Rev 7/17/2017) until April 30, 2020. After that date, they are required to use the new version with a 10/21/2019 version date (located in the lower-left corner of the form).

Below are changes to the form:

• The Country of Issuance in Section 1 and the Issuing Authority field in Section 2 (when selecting a foreign passport) were revised to add the countries of Eswatini and Macedonie, North (due to their recent name changes).

Below are changes to the instructions:

• Updated the DHS Privacy notice
• Updated the USCIS website addresses
• Provided clarifications on acceptable documents for the Form I-9*
• Outlined who can serve as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer
• Updated the process for requesting paper Form I-9s
• Changed the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to Immigrant and Employee Rights Section
• Removed “the end of” from “the first day of employment”