The Weekly Guide to Employment Law Developments

The Rocky Mountain Employer

Labor & Employment Law Updates

Employers Must Begin Using New Form I-9 by May 1, 2020

By Alison Macneill

On January 31, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) FN1, used 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. Employers should immediately begin using the new version of the form, but must use it as of May 1, 2020

USCIS made the following minor changes to Form I-9 and its instructions:

Form:

  • Revised the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the Issuing Authority field (when selecting a foreign passport) in Section 2 to add Eswatini and Macedonia, North per those countries’ recent name changes. (Note: This change is only visible when completing the fillable Form I-9 on a computer.)

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

Takeaway

USCIS has given time to transition to the new Form I-9 so that employers may make any necessary adjustments to their business processes. However, after April 30, 2020, employers that fail to use the new Form I–9 may be subject to penalties under Section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).FN2 Employers must also continue to follow existing storage and retention rules for previously completed Forms I-9s.FN3

Footnotes:

FN1 - https://www.uscis.gov/i-9

FN2 – See 8 U.S.C. 1324a(a)(1)

FN3 - https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/retain-store-form-i-9/retain-and-store-form-i-9