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Employer Alert: Use of New I-9 Form Required by February 2, 2009

Beginning on February 2, 2009, all employers will need to complete a revised I-9 form for all new employees, as well as for reverification of certain employees with temporary work authorization. The following changes have been made relative to the documents that employers can accept for employment verification:

• All documents presented to the employer during the verification process must be unexpired. Previously, it was not uncommon for an employer to accept certain expired document such as a United States passport.
• List A identity and employment authorization documentation will no longer include Temporary Resident Card (Form I-688), Employee Authorization Card (Form I-688A) and Employment Authorization Card (Form I-688B), as these cards are now obsolete.
• List A will now include foreign passports containing certain immigrant visas that are machine readable and passports from the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands if presented with an I-94 or I-94A arrival/departure record.

The new I-9 form will be available at www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf beginning on February 2, 2009. The new form should only be completed for new hires and for reverification of certain employees with temporary work authorization; it should not be completed for existing employees.

Full post as published by New Jersey Law Blog on January 23, 2009 (boomark / email).