Yet Another I-9 Version

By John Hill and Rebecca Sigmund
Ogletree Deakins

For the second time in just over six months, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) has released yet another version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification – which is required by employers to verify the identity and work eligibility of all new employees.  The version with a revision date of 11/14/16 N became mandatory on January 22, 2017.  The new version, dated “07/17/17 N,” will be mandatory beginning September 18, 2017.  Employers must continue to follow existing storage and retention rules for any previously completed I-9.

As background, for all employees hired after November 6, 1986, an employer is required to verify the employment eligibility of all new employees at the time they are hired using a form known as the I-9 form.  Proper completion of the form also requires examination of documents to verify the employee’s identity and authorization to be employed in the United States.  Acceptable documents are those that appear on page 3 of the I-9 form.  The I-9 form must be completed for all new hires, whether or not the employee is a U.S. citizen or in any other working status.  Improper completion of the I-9 can incur penalties of up to $2,191 for each individual, even if the worker is authorized to work in the United States.

Most of the changes to the new version of the I-9 are cosmetic.  For instance, CIS added Form FS-240, Consular Report of Birth Abroad, as an acceptable List C document and combined all of the certifications of report of birth issued by the U.S. State Department (i.e., Form DS-1350, Form FS-545, and Form FS-240) into one option on List C.  The changes resulted in re-numbering of the documents listed under the List C on page 3 of the I-9.  The drop-down menus of the “smart” version of the I-9 have been updated to reflect these changes.  Form FS-240 has also been added as an option for E-Verify users who create a case for an employee who presented that document for I-9 verification.

In addition, the I-9 Instructions have been updated to change references to the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to its new name:  Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.  The revised I-9 instructions also remove “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”

CIS has incorporated these changes in the revised Handbook for Employers:  Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (Form M-274), which can be found on the CIS website.

Employers who fail to use the new version of the Form I-9 on and after September 18, 2017, may be subject to applicable penalties – which, again, may be as much as $2,191 for each individual I-9 Form completed by the employer for a new hire.  To avoid that risk, prudent employers will begin now to modify their new-hire procedures and policies to accommodate the new version of the Form I-9.

The bottom line for South Carolina employers is this:  beginning September 18, 2017, employers should use only Form I-9 version dated “07/17/17 N” in the bottom left corner for new hires and for employees being re-verified.  Prior versions of the I-9 form should not be used on or after that date.  Though the changes to the new version seem minor when compared to the previous versions, compliance in using the correct version of the I-9 form is necessary to avoid potential penalties.

Ogletree Deakins has one of the largest business immigration practice groups in the Carolinas with eight immigration attorneys in South Carolina alone.  Contact John Hill at [email protected] or Rebecca Sigmund at [email protected].