USCIS REVISES FORM I-9
In an effort to streamline the employment authorization
process, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
(USCIS) on December 17, 2008 issued an interim
final Rule amending the Employment Eligibility Verification
(Form I-9). Effective February 2, 2009, all employers must
use a revised Form I-9 to verify the employment authorization
of all new hires and to re-verify current employees whose
temporary work authorization has expired. As of February
2, 2009, the current Form I-9 will no longer be valid.
The revised Form I-9 has not yet been published, but will
be available beginning February 2, 2009. The most significant
change is employers can no longer accept expired documents
to verify employment authorization. Previously, certain
expired documents were acceptable (e.g., U.S. passports).
The new Rule also amends the list of acceptable identity
documents. Employers will no longer be able to accept the
following documents to determine employment authorization:
• Form I-688, Temporary Resident Card;
• Form I-688A, Employment Authorization Card; and
• Form I-688B, Employment Authorization Card.
In addition, the following documents have been added to
List A (documents which may be used to verify identity and
employment authorization):
• Passports that have certain machine-readable immigrant
visas; and
• Passports from the Federated States of Micronesia
(FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RSM) with
a valid Form I-94 or I-94A.
Finally, the new Rule makes technical changes to the Form
I-9, including replacing the term “employment eligibility”
with “employment authorization.”
While the new Form I-9 is not yet available, the USCIS
published a sample of the new Form and instructions, which
may be found appended to the Rule
by clicking here.
January 12, 2009
Shawe
Rosenthal, LLP provides this publication for informational
purposes, and it should not be construed or relied upon
as legal advice. You should contact your Shawe Rosenthal,
LLP lawyer to discuss any questions that you may have concerning
your own situation.
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