USCIS Releases Revised Form I-9

On July 17, 2017, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers must use the July 17, 2017 version of Form I-9 beginning September 18, 2017.

What is Form I-9 and who uses it?

Employers must complete Form I-9 for every individual they hire for employment in the United States after November 6, 1986 in order to verify the individual’s identity and employment authorization.

What has changed on Form I-9?

The new version of Form I-9 adds the Consular Report of Birth (Form FS-240) to the list of documents accepted to prove employment authorization, found in “List C.” With the addition of Form FS-240, all certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Forms FS-545, DS-1350 and FS-240) were consolidated into selection C #2 in List C on the Form resulting in the renumbering of most List C documents. Minor, non-material updates were made to the Form I-9 instructions.

What should employers do now?

Employers may use either Form I-9 version dated November 14, 2016 or July 17, 2017 for new hires and reverifications through September 17, 2017. Employers must exclusively use the July 17, 2017 version of the Form I-9 beginning September 18, 2017.  

To ensure full I-9 compliance, employers are urged to review storage and retention policies for Form I-9 and the updated I-9 Handbook for Employers.