What Is Form I-9: E𒆙mployment Elig💎ibility Verification?

Form 1-9: Employment Eligibility Verification is a form used by the U.S. government to verify the identity of individuals who are hired to work in the United States. The form is issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is intended to prove the identity and eligibility of workers in the U.S. Form 1-9 is completed by the employee and must be accompanied by supporting documents that the employer verifies. Employers who don't comply with I-9 procedures can face fines and penalties.

Who Can File Form 1-9?

As noted above, the employee is responsible for completing Form I-9 while the employer is responsible for recording and verifying the supporting documents that prove the employee's identity and their employment eligibility.

Individuals may complete a hard copy of the form. Form I-9 can also be completed and signed electronically by downloading it from the USCIS website. A link to the form is provided below.

The form must be filed directly with the employee and should not be submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employers must retain a copy of the form for three years after an employee is hired or for a full year after they are terminated, whichever is later. It must be available for inspection by an employee from Homeland Security, the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), or the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Department of Justice if requested.

How to File Form I-9?

Form I-9 is divided into two parts. Section 1 must be filled out by the employee. This portion, which acts as the employee's attestation, must be compl🌄e🐠ted by the first day of employment. The employee provides the following information in this section:

• Personal details, including name, address, email address, and telephone number
• Date of birth
• 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Social Security number (SSN)
• Resident status (citizen, noncitizen national, permanent resident, or noncitizen)

The employee must sign and date the form.

Section 2 requires documentation from the employee that the employer must verify. Employees must provide one document from List A (establishes identity and employment eligibility) or one document from List B (establishes identity) and List C (establishes employment eligibility). The table below highlights the documents from each list.

Page 3 of Form I-9 is called Supplement A. It must be completed by an individual who prepares or translates Section 1 for an employee. Supplement B, which is found on Page 4, is used whenever an employer rehires an employee within three years of the original Form I-9 being completed or if that employee has a legal name change.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Penalties are imposed on employers who fail to comply wit๊h I-9 rules. Fines a𝄹re triggered when employers:

• Knowingly hire and continue to employ unauthorized workers
• Fail to complete Form I-9
• Participate in document fraud
• Cannot produce documents for inspection
  

Penalties can increase when an employer h🦋🦩as subsequent violations.

Technical violations of I-9 requirements are not penalized immediately. Employers are notified of the violations and given 10 business days to correct the errors. 

• Failure of the employee to date the form at the time employment begins
• Failure to provide the date that employment begins
• Failure to date the employer section of the form within three business days of the date that employment begins
• Failure to provide the date of rehiring an employee in the section of the form used for rehiring
• Failure to enter an employer’s business title, name, or address
  

An employer who can demonstrate good faith 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:compliance has a rebuttable defense to any penalty that the government attempts to impose. Once this is done, it is up to the government to show that the employer did not act in good faith. 

Where to Download Form I-9

Special Considerations When Filing Form I-9

E💦mployers cannot consider national origin and citizenship or immigr💎ation status when hiring, firing, or recruiting potential employees. Using this information in employment decisions is discriminatory.

This means that an employer cannot use Form I-9 as a prerequisite to making an offer of employment because merely suspecting that someone may be ineligible and refraining from making a job offer can be discriminatory. The form is only completed once a person has been offered a job.

Form I-9 has not been replaced by E-Verify, an online method of quickly determining eligibility to work in the United States. Completing, retaining, and storing the Form I-9 for each newly hired employee is still mandatory, even if an employer voluntarily opts to use E-Verify.

The Bottom Line

The Immigration Reform and Control Act was enacted in 1986 to legalize about 2.7 million undocumented immigrants while attempting to deter future undocumented immigration. Form I-9 was created to require newly hired workers to show eligibility to work in the U.S. And that remains in effect today. As such, employers must properly complete Form I-9 whenever they hire someone new or for a certain period after the employee leaves. The document must be retained and produced upon request of a government agency.