On August 19, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a temporary change to the list of acceptable documents that can be used by an employee to support Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. As a result of delays in the issuance of Employment Authorization Documents (or EAD cards), the agency announced that employees may use—and employers must accept—form I-797 Notice of Action that indicates the approval of Form I-765 (Application for Employment Authorization Document) in lieu of the actual EAD card, provided that the I-797 is dated between December 1, 2019, and August 20, 2020.

Form I-797 will serve as an I-9 “List C” document that establishes employment eligibility but does not serve as a document to establish identity. If an employee uses the I-797 Notice of Action as a List C document, the employer would need to reverify the employee by December 1, 2020, by accepting either another List C document to establish employment authorization, or a List A document that establishes both identity and employment authorization.