New Form I-9 effective February 2

Employers have just over a month left to comply with the latest changes to the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9).

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published the interim final rule to streamline the Form I-9 process in the Federal Register on December 17, 2008. There are several changes in the new I-9 form, including new verification guidelines and a redefined list of acceptable proof of identification documents.

Beginning February 2, 2009, all employers are required to use the revised Form I-9 for verification of new employees and re-verification of existing employees.

There are several changes in the new I-9 form, including:

• Expired documents are no longer considered acceptable proof of identification or work authorization.
• Three additional documents were eliminated from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents.
• Foreign passports with machine-readable visas for certain citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) were added to List A.
• The new U.S. Passport card was added to the list of acceptable employment eligibility verification documents.
• Revisions to the employee attestation section of the Form I-9.

Employers who fail to use the revised I-9 form by February 2, 2009 may be subject to violation fines. Keep your company in compliance by ordering the updated Form I-9 today.

New Form I-9 effective February 2