New Form I-9: Includes Remote Verification Procedure for E-Verify Users

On August 1, 2023, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a new version of its Employment Eligibility Verification form, most often referred to as the Form I-9.

Important Dates

• July 21, 2023 UCSIS announced a new Form I-9
• August 1, 2023 Employers may begin using the new Form I-9.
• August 30, 2023 Employer deadline to complete the physical inspection of I-9 documents, if applicable.
• October 31, 2023 Current Form I-9 expiration date (edition date of 10/21/19).
• November 1, 2023 Employers must complete the transition to using the new Form I-9 (which expires 7/31/26).

What has changed?

UCSIS published a full list of updates here. Some of the most notable differences include:

• Sections 1 and 2 were reduced to a single sheet. All of the same fields remain, but some have been merged;
• The preparer/translator certification area and Section 3 (Reverification and Rehire sections) have been moved to standalone supplements that employers can use if needed (for initial verification or
  recertification);
• The list of acceptable documents has been updated to include some acceptable receipts, guidance, and links to information about automatic extensions of employment authorization documentation;
  and
• The list of instructions has been reduced from 15 to 8 pages, and now includes added definitions, streamlined processes, and an explanation on how to use the new check boxes to indicate when
  Form I-9 documents were examined remotely.

Remote Document Verification:

Currently, employers must physically inspect I-9 acceptable documents to certify their employees are authorized to work in the United States. However, the new form includes alternative remote verification procedures that employers enrolled in E-Verify can use to comply with their Form I-9 obligations. Employers must participate in E-Verify and be in good standing if they want to examine employee documents remotely. To be in good standing, the employer (1) is enrolled in E-Verify with respect to all hiring sites that use the alternative procedure to examine documents remotely, (2) use E-Verify to confirm the employment eligibility of newly hired employees in the United States, and (3) comply with all other requirements of the E-Verify program.

• New E-Verify enrollees and users must complete an E-Verify tutorial that includes fraudulent
  document awareness training.
• Existing employers already enrolled in E-Verify have access to this tutorial and may retake it at
  any time.

Remote Examination of Documents Procedure:

• Review copies of Form I-9 documents or an acceptable receipt to ensure documents provided appear genuine and relative to the employee;
• Conduct a live video interaction with the individual providing the documents to ensure they appear genuine and relative to the employee. The employee must first send a copy of the documents to the
  employer, and then present the same document during the live video interaction; and
• Retain a clear/legible copy of the documentation (front and back, if two-sided).

Finally, employers need to indicate that they used an alternative procedure on Form I-9 by checking the applicable box in the ‘Additional Information’ field in Section 2.

Most important of all:

Your W3 team is here to help. We can answer questions about this change, and we want to hear from you!

Resources:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/i-9.pdf (1)
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/fact-sheets/FormI9SummaryofChangesFactSheet.pdf (2)
https://www.e-verify.gov/ (3)
https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/remote-examination-of-documents (4)