On December 17, 2008, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) amended its regulations governing the types of documents that employers may accept in verifying employment eligibility and completing Form I-9.  As a result, a revised I-9 Form must now be used by all employers as of February 2, 2009. 

 

Previously, a U.S. passport and all List B documents (“Documents that Establish Identity”) were acceptable for Form I-9 even if they were expired. The new rule provides, however, that as of February 2, 2009, expired documents are no longer acceptable.

 

The rule also adds the following documents to List A (“Documents that Establish Both Identity and Employment Authorization”): 

Further, the new rule removes from List A documents which are no longer produced, specifically: Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B (Temporary Resident Card and older versions of the Employment Authorization Card/Document). According to the USCIS, if any of these forms are still in circulation, they have expired. 

 

Finally, the new rule also makes technical changes to the list of acceptable documents in List C (“Documents that Establish Employment Authorization”) as well as the employee attestation section of Form I-9.

 

The new I-9 Form can be found at http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9_IFR_02-02-09.pdf but should not be used until February 2, 2009. As with prior changes to the I-9 Form, current employees who do not need to re-verify their employment authorization are not required to complete a new I-9 Form. The new Form should be used, therefore, for new hires and those current employees who are subject to re-verification. The USCIS has not yet published a new Handbook with instructions on how to complete the revised I-9 Form, but one should be available at www.uscis.gov in the future.