On July 17, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new version of Form I-9, the form used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired to work in the U.S. Employers may use either the revised form or the old version of the form, dated November 14, 2016, until September 17, 2017. Beginning September 18, 2017, employers must use this latest version of the form.
The revisions reflect three key changes: (1) the addition of the Department of State Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Form FS-240, to the "List C" listing of acceptable documents that establish employment authorization, and to the form instructions; (2) the form instructions have been updated to remove the phrase "the end of" when describing the day on which Section 1 of Form I-9 must be completed by the employee (i.e., the instructions will now state that Section 1 of the I-9 form must be completed no later than the employee's first day of employment); and (3) the instructions will update the name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to the agency's new name, the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.
By way of background, the revised Form I-9 was originally scheduled to reflect a new rule promulgated under the Obama Administration that would have allowed certain foreign entrepreneurs to enter and work in the U.S. under a parole designation. That rule has now been delayed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As such, the revised Form I-9 has still been released but does not include the originally planned major substantive changes.
Employers should ensure that all personnel responsible for completing I-9 forms are aware of the new version of the form and begin using the new version exclusively as of September 18, 2017.
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