New Form I-9, Mandatory May 7, 2013 for All Employers

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Beginning May 7, 2013 employers throughout the nation will be required to use a new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.  The new I-9 is available at www.uscis.gov under "Forms."

The form itself has been expanded from two pages to three.  The first page is Section 1, "Employee Information and Attestation."  The second page is the employer review and verification and the third page is the list of acceptable documents to establish identity and authorization to work in the U.S.

Instead of "Maiden Name" in Section 1 a new employee is now asked to include "Other Names Used."  The new hire's e-mail address and telephone number are also requested, although those two items are described in the instructions as optional.  As in earlier forms, the new employee's social security number is optional in Section 1 unless the employer uses E-Verify to assess work authorization.

The new employee still must check one of four boxes about his or her immigration status in the United States.  If a new employee checks box 4 ("An alien authorized to work until...), he or she must also write in information to clarify his or her status in the United States.  This is intended to assist an enforcement agency like Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Homeland Security Investigations in more easily performing a Form I-9 inspection.

Page 2 of the new I-9, "Employer or Authorized Representative Review and Verification," requires that the employer re-enter the new employee's name above the list of documents he or she presents.  It is crucial that the employer re-write the employee's name on page 2 when inserting the information about documentation the employee presents so the first and second pages can be connected if separated.

As before, we recommend photocopying the documents a new hire presents and stapling them to the Form I-9.  Now that the Form I-9 is even longer, stapling all pages together will be advantageous in the event of an agency inspection.

Employers are not to collect information for the new Form I-9 from current employees.  Use the new Forms I-9 going forward only.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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