On November 7, 2007, USICS issued a revised I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form. The primary change to the revised Form I-9 is the elimination of five documents which were previously listed on List A as acceptable for proof of both identity and employment eligibility:
- Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570)
- Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570)
- Alien Registration Receipt card (Form I-151 - please note that the current I-551 Permanent Resident Card remains on List A)
- Reentry Permit (Form I-327)
- Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571)
The above forms were removed from the list of acceptable documents because they lacked adequate features to deter counterfeiting and fraud. In addition, the current version of the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) was added to List A.
In the instructions to the Form I-9, USCIS has also made it voluntary for an employee to provide a social security number when completing the Form I-9. A social security number is required only if the employer participates in the USCIS E-Verify program.
USCIS “encourages” all employers to begin using this new I-9 Form immediately. However, employers will not actually be required to begin using the new Form I-9 until it is published in the Federal Register (we expect such publication to occur soon). There is no need for an employer to complete the new Form I-9 for its existing employees. The new Form I-9, applicable instructions, and the Employer Handbook can be found on the USCIS web site at www.uscis.gov.
In light of recent increased enforcement of employer obligations to verify identity and employment authorization eligibility of every employee, it is important that this new requirement and all other I-9 requirements be followed. If you are interested in reviewing your I-9 process, including an internal audit of your files, creating a policy, learning about USCIS E-Verify program, or Electronic Record keeping, please contact a member of our department.