Notice2023-15667
Introduction of a New Version of Employment Eligibility Verification Form
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 25, 2023
Effective
October 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Homeland Security DepartmentU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Abstract
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Employers must use Form I-9 to verify the identity and employment authorization of their employees. USCIS made significant changes to the form and its instructions, including a checkbox to indicate that an employee's Form I-9 documentation was examined using a DHS-authorized alternative procedure. This Notice contains the dates of both the prior version and the new version of Form I-9 that employers may use, as well as the date when the prior version will become obsolete.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47891-47892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15667]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
[CIS No. 2532-13; DHS Docket No. USCIS-2006-0068]
Introduction of a New Version of Employment Eligibility
Verification Form
AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department
of Homeland Security (DHS).
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is
announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification. Employers must use Form I-9 to verify the identity and
employment authorization of their employees. USCIS made significant
changes to the form and its instructions, including a checkbox to
indicate that an employee's Form I-9 documentation was examined using a
DHS-authorized alternative procedure. This Notice contains the dates of
both the prior version and the new version of Form I-9 that employers
may use, as well as the date when the prior version will become
obsolete.
DATES: Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, with a version
date of ``(Rev. 08/01/23)'' is available for use beginning August 1,
2023. The prior version of Form I-9 (Rev. 10/21/19) continues to be
effective through October 31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Ragan Henry, Branch Chief,
Employment Eligibility, Verification Division, Immigration Records and
Identity Services, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S.
Department of Homeland Security, 5900 Capital Gateway Dr., Camp
Springs, MD 20746, telephone number (240) 721-3000 (This is not a toll-
free number. Comments are not accepted via telephone message).
Employers can contact the Form I-9 Contact Center at 888-464-4218 (TTY:
877-875-6028) and employees can call 888-897-7781 (TTY: 877-875-6028)
for more information. The public can also email the Form I-9 Contact
Center at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b9d09480dadcd7cdcbd8d5f9ddd1ca97ded6cf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="30591d0953555e4442515c705458431e575f46">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Employers and certain agricultural recruiters and referrers for a
fee (referred to collectively as employers in this notice) must verify
the identity and employment authorization of each individual they hire
for employment in the United States on Form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification.
The new Form I-9 contains two sections and two supplements:
Section 1 of the form collects, at the time of hire, identifying
information about the employee (and preparer or translator if used),
and requires the employee to attest to whether the employee is a U.S.
citizen, noncitizen national, lawful permanent resident, or noncitizen
authorized to work in the United States.
Section 2 of the form collects, within three days of the employee's
hire, identifying information about the employer and information
regarding the employee's identity and employment authorization. The
employee must present original documentation evidencing the employee's
identity and employment authorization, which the employer must review.
Supplement A, Preparer and/or Translator Certification for Section
1, is completed when employees have preparers and/or translators assist
them in completing Section 1 of Form I-9.
Supplement B, Reverification and Rehire (formerly Section 3), is
primarily used to verify the continued employment authorization of the
employee. This Supplement is completed prior to the date that the
employee's employment authorization and/or employment authorization
documentation recorded in either Section 1 or Section 2 of the form
expires, if applicable. This Supplement may also be used if the
employee is rehired within 3 years of the date of the initial
completion of the form and to record a name change.
Employers must maintain Forms I-9 for as long as an individual
works for the employer and for the required retention period after the
termination of an individual's employment (either 3 years after the
date of hire or 1 year after the date employment ended, whichever is
later). Also, employers must make their employees' Forms I-9 available
for inspection upon request by officers of the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS), the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) in the
Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, and the Department of
Labor. An employer's failure to ensure proper completion and retention
of Forms I-9 may subject the employer to civil money penalties, and, in
some cases, criminal penalties.
On March 30, 2022, USCIS published a 60-day information collection
notice in the Federal Register at 87 FR 18377 inviting the public to
comment on a proposed revision of the Form I-9 and renewal request of
the information collection to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. USCIS received and
responded to 184 comments on the 60-day notice. On July 8, 2022, USCIS
published a second notice at 87 FR 40857 inviting the public to comment
on the proposed revision of the Form I-9 for a 30-day period. USCIS
received and responded to 72 comments on the 30-day notice. On January
10, 2023, OMB approved a three-year extension without change of the
updated Form I-9. See OMB No. 1615-0047 at <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov">www.reginfo.gov</a>.
Concurrent with this process, DHS issued a notice of proposed
rulemaking (NPRM), Optional Alternatives to the Physical Document
Examination Associated with Employment Eligibility Verification (Form
I-9), seeking
[[Page 47892]]
comment on additional potential changes to the Form I-9. See 87 FR
50786, 50793 (Aug. 18, 2022). Specifically, DHS proposed to create a
framework under which the Secretary of Homeland Security may, as an
optional alternative to the regulatory in-person physical document
examination method that employers have used to examine employees' Form
I-9 documents, authorize alternative document examination procedures,
such as for remote document examination. As part of this proposal, DHS
proposed to add a checkbox to the Form I-9, which an employer would use
to indicate their use of an alternative document examination procedure.
In this issue of the Federal Register, DHS published a final rule on
this topic as well as an accompanying document authorizing an
alternative procedure for document examination. Consistent with the
final rule, the newly updated Form I-9 contains such a checkbox.
II. Changes to Form I-9
The newly updated Form I-9 contains myriad revisions to the form
and its instructions to streamline these materials and reduce employer
and employee burden associated with the form.
USCIS made the following updates to the Form I-9:
<bullet> Reduced Sections 1 and 2 to a single-sided sheet. No
previous fields were removed. Rather, multiple fields were merged into
fewer fields when possible.
<bullet> Moved the Section 1 Preparer/Translator Certification area
to a separate, standalone supplement (Supplement A) that employers can
provide to employees when necessary. Employers may attach additional
supplement sheets as needed.
<bullet> Moved the Section 3 Reverification and Rehire area to a
separate, standalone supplement (Supplement B) that employers can print
if or when rehire occurs or reverification is required. Employers may
attach additional supplement sheets as necessary.
<bullet> Removed use of ``alien authorized to work'' in Section 1
and replaced it with ``noncitizen authorized to work'' as well as
clarified the difference between ``noncitizen national'' and
``noncitizen authorized to work.''
<bullet> Ensured the form can be filled out on tablets and mobile
devices.
<bullet> Removed certain features to ensure the form can be
downloaded easily. This also removes the requirement to enter N/A in
certain fields.
<bullet> Updated the notice at the top of the Form I-9 that
explains how to avoid discrimination in the Form I-9 process.
<bullet> Revised the Lists of Acceptable Documents page to include
some acceptable receipts as well as guidance and links to information
on automatic extensions of employment authorization documentation.
<bullet> Added a box that eligible employers must check if the
employee's Form I-9 documentation was examined under a DHS-authorized
alternative procedure rather than via physical examination.
USCIS updated the following in the Form I-9 instructions:
<bullet> Reduced length of instructions from 15 pages to 8 pages.
<bullet> Added definitions of key actors in the Form I-9 process.
<bullet> Streamlined the steps each actor takes to complete their
section of the form.
<bullet> Added instructions for use of the new checkbox for
employers who choose to examine Form I-9 documentation under an
alternative procedure.
<bullet> Removed the abbreviations charts and relocated them to the
M-274, Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9.
III. Use of the Updated Form I-9
In this Notice, USCIS is announcing that as of August 1, 2023,
employers should begin using Form I-9 with a version date of ``(Rev.
08/01/23)'' to comply with their employment eligibility verification
responsibilities. The version date is located in the bottom corner of
the form.
Employers may continue using the prior version of Form I-9 (Rev.
10/21/19) through October 31, 2023. USCIS is allowing employers this
additional time to make necessary updates and adjust their business
processes. After October 31, 2023, the prior version of Form I-9 will
be obsolete and no longer valid for use. The public can download the
current Form I-9 from <a href="http://www.uscis.gov/i-9">www.uscis.gov/i-9</a>. Beginning November 1, 2023,
employers who fail to use Form I-9 (Rev. 08/01/23) may be subject to
all applicable penalties under section 274A of the Immigration and
Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1324a, as enforced by U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Employers do not need to complete the new Form I-9 (Rev. 08/01/23)
for current employees who already have a properly completed Form I-9 on
file, unless reverification applies after October 31, 2023. Unnecessary
verification may violate the INA's anti-discrimination provision,
section 274B of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1324b, which is enforced by IER.
IV. Obtaining Form I-9 (Rev. 08/01/2023)
An exemplar of the revised Form I-9 can be viewed at
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> under the docket for this notice [CIS No. 2532-13;
DHS Docket No. USCIS-2006-0068]. Starting on August 1, 2023, employers
may download the new Form I-9 (Rev. 08/01/23) from the USCIS website at
<a href="http://www.uscis.gov/i-9">www.uscis.gov/i-9</a>. Employers can order the paper Form I-9 at
<a href="http://www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-by-mail">www.uscis.gov/forms/forms-by-mail</a>. For more information, the public can
contact the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 or visit USCIS' I-9
Central web page at <a href="http://www.uscis.gov/i-9central">www.uscis.gov/i-9central</a>.
A Spanish-language version of the new Form I-9 is also available at
<a href="http://www.uscis.gov/i-9">www.uscis.gov/i-9</a> for use in Puerto Rico only.
Ur M. Jaddou,
Director, USCIS.
[FR Doc. 2023-15667 Filed 7-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P
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