Current Form I-9 Is Valid for Four More Months

Author: Rena Pirsos, XpertHR Legal Editor

September 23, 2016

After a series of proposed improvements to and public comment periods on Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, the Office of Management and Budget has approved a revised version of the form.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) plans to publish the revised form by November 22, with an expiration date of August 31, 2019. In the meantime, employers may continue using the current form (which bears a revision date of March 8, 2013) until January 21, 2017. After that date, all prior versions of the form will be invalid.

Form I-9 must be completed by an employer for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the US. Most of the changes that will be included on the revised form are intended to make it easier for employers to complete the form electronically after downloading it from USCIS, and reduce the number of technical errors made.

Some of the enhancements include convenient drop-down lists and calendars, embedded instructions to help in completing each field and buttons allowing electronic access to the instructions. Employers should anticipate investing some time to become familiar with new instructions, because some structural changes to the form are expected. If the new form is indeed published by November 22, employers will have two months to get accustomed to it.

Employers should periodically visit I-9 Central, where USCIS will post related updates and, eventually, the final version of new form.