labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Every employer should have begun using the new, updated I-9 form no later than April 3, 2009.

 

The biggest difference in the new I-9 form and the previous version is that expired identity documents will no longer be accepted on the new form.

 

The USCIS or Citizenship and Immigration Services notes that the Department of Homeland Security wanted to ensure that “documents presented for use in the Form I-9 process must be valid and reliably establish both identity and employment authorization.” The DHS adds that expired documents may not contain the workers valid status. They are also more prone to tampering and fraudulent use, than unexpired documents.

 

The new I-9 form also eliminates several documents from List A, items that establish both identity and employment authorization. These include Forms I-688, I-688A and I-688B, temporary resident cards and outdated employment authorization cards.

 

The newest I-9 form also adds a number of documents to List A, including:

 

• Foreign passports with machine-readable immigrant visas
• Passports from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)  or
• Passports from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) 
• Along with Form I-94 or Form I-94A indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the FSM or RMI

 

The new I-9 also includes a number of technical updates.

 

The new I-9 was originally slated to be used beginning February 2, 2009. However, the Obama Administration gave employers an extra month to adjust to the new document.

 

Most managers and employers will notice few changes to the I-9 form. The documents that have been eliminated were some of those that were least frequently used by newly hired employees, but most likely to be fraudulent.

 

Employers should also be aware that under the new regulations, only drivers licenses from the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada are accepted as identity documents. Drivers licenses from Mexico and other countries are not accepted.

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