Today, USCIS offered us the first glimpse at the finalized version of the new Form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09). As we advised in our prior Newsflash of January 6, employers will be required to utilize the new Form I-9 on or after February 2, 2009. In the interim, employers should continue to use the older version of the form (Rev. 06/05/07).
Confirmed Changes In The New Form I-9:
1. Employers are no longer permitted to accept expired documents to verify employment authorization;
2. Temporary Resident Cards (Forms I-688) and Employment Authorization Cards (Forms i-688A and I-688B) are no longer acceptable documents to verify identity and employment authorization under “List A”;
3. Under Section 1, “A citizen or national of the United States” is no longer an option for the employee. Rather, the employee must now choose between “A citizen of the United States”; “a noncitizen national of the United States”; “a lawful permanent resident”; or “an alien authorized to work”.
As you will note in the instructions for the new form, “a noncitizen national of the United States” is limited to “persons born in American Samoa, certain former citizens of the former trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and certain children of noncitizens born abroad.”
4. For foreign nationals whose work authorization does not expire (e.g., asylees, refugees, and certain citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands) the expiration date in Section 1 of the new form can be left blank.
Click here to review the new version of the Form I-9.
If you have any questions regarding the new form or your company’s obligations to remain I-9 compliant, please do not hesitate to contact us.