The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has revised the I-9 form. DHS will begin enforcing the requirements Dec. 26, 30 days after the Nov. 26 announcement, giving employers time to transition. The revised Form I-9 is one more step in USCIS' ongoing work toward reducing the number of documents used to confirm identity and work eligibility.

The new form I-9 must be completed by all employers for each employee hired in the United States. The form will become mandatory for all employers to complete within the first three days of hire once the notice is published in the Federal Register. Basically, the revision reduces the number of documents that employers may accept from newly hired employees to prove work eligibility and identity.  
 
Key to the revision is the removal of five documents for proof of both identity and employment eligibility. They include: Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570); Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570); Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151); the unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327); and the unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571). The forms were removed because they lack sufficient features to help deter counterfeiting, tampering and fraud.
 
It is important to note that there was one addition to the list: The most recent version of Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document, is now listed as an acceptable List A document. 
 
In addition, a newly revised "Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9, (M-274)" is available on the USCIS Web site. The public can get USCIS forms and information on immigration laws, regulations and procedures by telephoning our National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. A Spanish-language version of the amended Form I-9 also is available (for use in Puerto Rico only).

Read a press release about the amended Form I-9.

 --Jeanne Ramsay
jramsay@safnow.org

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