USCIS Updates Form I-9 Handbook

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has posted a Jan. 5, 2011 version of Publication M-274, Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing I-9, on its website.

Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is used to confirm that new employees (both citizen and noncitizen) are authorized to work in the United States. Employers must examine documents that show: (1) the identity of the individual, and (2) the individual's right to work in the United States.

The handbook has the following eight sections:

1. Part One-Why Employers Must Verify Employment Authorization and Identity of New Employees.

2. Part Two-Completing Form I-9.

3. Part Three-Photocopying and Retaining Form I-9.

4. Part Four-Unlawful Discrimination and Penalties for Prohibited Practices.

5. Part Five-Instructions for Recruiters and Referrers for a Fee.

6. Part Six-E-Verify: The Web-based Verification Companion to Form I-9.

7. Part Seven-Some Questions You May Have About Form I-9.

8. Part Eight-Acceptable Documents for Verifying Employment Authorization and Identity.

Questions and answers. Part Seven of the handbook contains 64 questions and answers (Q&A), including Q&As about the verification process, acceptable documents, and completing and retaining Form I-9. For example, Q&A 36 explains what to do when an employee's employment authorization expires. An employer must reverify the employee in Section 3 of Form I-9 no later than the date that the employment authorization expires. The employee must present a document from either List A or List C on Form I-9 that shows either an extension of the employee's initial employment authorization, or a new employment authorization.

E-Verify. E-Verify is a free, Internet-based system that determines the employment eligibility of new hires by comparing information from the new hire's Form I-9 to Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration records. Part Two of the handbook notes that providing a Social Security number on Form I-9 is voluntary for all employees unless the employer is participating in the E-Verify program. E-Verify employers may accept any document or combination of documents on Form I-9, but if the employee chooses to present a List B and C combination, the List B (identity only) document must have a photograph.