On July 17, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released an updated version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals for employment in the U.S. under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). This form replaces the last version issued in January.

Employers have a 60-day grace period to transition to the new form that ends on September 17. On September 18, employers are required to use the new form for the initial employment verification of all new hires and employment re-verifications. Employers must also continue following existing storage and retention rules by retaining a Form I-9 for all workers hired in the U.S.

According to the USCIS, the new revisions include:

  • The Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices has a new name: Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
  • The instructions on Section 2 have been revised: “Employers or their authorized representative must complete and sign Section 2 within 3 business days of the employee’s first day of employment.” The words, “the end of” were removed from the phrase, “the first day of employment”.

Other changes are related to the List of Acceptable Documents on Form I-9:

  • The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) was added to List C. If you’re completing Form I-9 online, you’ll be able to select Form FS-240 from the drop-down menus available in List C of Sections 2 and 3.  E-Verify users can also select Form FS-240 when creating a case for an employee who has presented this document for Form I-9.
  • All the certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS 1350 and Form FS-240) are now combined into selection C#2 in List C.

A a result of these changes, List C documents have also been renumbered, except for the Social Security card, which remains C-1.  As an example, the employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security on List C will change from List C #8 to List C #7.

You can find all of these changes documented in the USCIS’ updated employer handbook – Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274) – which the USCIS claims is easier to navigate than its predecessor. Employers can also download the latest Form I-9 from the USCIS website.