DHS announces flexibility in requirements related to Form I-9 compliance

Many factors are considered when determining whether or not an individual or entity is an independent contractor. Going forward DHS will continue to monitor the ongoing National Emergency and provide updated guidance as needed. Employers are required to monitor the DHS and ICE websites for additional updates regarding when the extensions will be terminated, and normal operations will resume. DHS will continue to monitor the ongoing national emergency and provide updated guidance as needed. Employers should monitor the DHS and ICE websites for additional updates regarding the status of Form I-9 completion flexibilities.

This date is the actual date you complete Section 2 by examining the documentation your employee presents and signing the certification. Enter the employee’s last name, first name, middle initial and select the correct citizenship/immigration number in the “Employee Info from Section 1” area at the top of Section 2. In certain circumstances, your employee may present an acceptable receipt in place of a List A, B, or C document. Receipts only temporarily satisfy the document presentation requirement for Section 2. If you participate in E-Verify, you may only accept List B documents that contain a photo.

The date your employee began employment may be a current, past or future date. You should enter:

The date you examined the documentation your employee presented to show identity and employment authorization. Employers must complete and sign Section 2 of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, within 3 business days of the date of hire of their employee . For example, if your employee began work for pay on Monday, you must complete Section 2 by Thursday of that week. If the job lasts less than 3 days, you must complete Section 2 no later than the first day of work for pay.

Effective March 19, 2020, any employers who were served NOIs by DHS during the month of March 2020 and have not already responded will be granted an automatic extension for 60 days from the effective date. At the end of the 60-day extension period, DHS will determine if an additional extension will be granted. Employers who avail themselves of this option must provide written documentation of their remote onboarding and telework policy Complete And Correct Form I for each employee. Enter the date their employees first began employment for wages or other remuneration from Section 2 of their previously completed Form I-9. If Section 2 is completed the same day your employee begins employment for wages or other remuneration. Federal law prohibits individuals or businesses from contracting with an independent contractor knowing that the independent contractor is not authorized to work in the U.S.

The Date the Employee Began Employment

Independent contractors or individuals providing labor to you if they are employed by a contractor providing contract services . All employers must complete and retainForm I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for every person they hire for employment after Nov. 6, 1986, in the U.S. as long as the person works for pay or other type of payment. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. Your employee’s first day of employment ( “date of hire” which means the commencement of employment of an employee for wages or other remuneration). Enter the first and last name, signature and title of the person completing Section 2, as well as the date he or she completed Section 2. Physically examine each document to determine if it reasonably appears to be genuine and to relate to your employee presenting it. If you determine the document does not reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to your employee, allow your employee to present other documentation from the Lists of Acceptable Documents.

To protect your privacy, please do not include any personal information in your feedback. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Guidance for Employees that fall into Special Categories

If your company has multiple locations, use the most appropriate address that identifies the location of the employer with respect to the employee and his or her Form I-9 completion (for example, the address where Form I-9 is completed). Any audit of subsequent Forms I-9 would use the “in-person completed date” as a starting point for these employees only.

If you hired your employee on or before Nov. 6, 1986, and still employ that person, you are generally not required to complete Form I-9 for that employee. For employers in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , Form I-9 is not required for employees hired for employment in the CNMI on or before Nov. 27, 2009 and who continue in their employment with the same employer after that date. The individual or business that is contracting with the independent contractor is not required to complete Form I-9 for the contractor. Remember, however, that federal law prohibits individuals or businesses from contracting with an independent contractor knowing that the independent contractor is not authorized to work in the U.S. Employers or their authorized representatives must physically examine the documentation presented by the employee and sign the form. Employees must present unexpired original documentation that shows the employer their identity and employment authorization.

Immigration Enforcement

If your company merges with another company, you may need to complete Form I-9 for an employee of the newly acquired company who was originally hired on or before Nov. 6,1986.Learn more about mergers and acquisition. Effective April 1, 2021, DHS is also providing the following update to its Form I-9 flexibilities guidance. SEVP is a part of the National Security Investigations Division and acts as a bridge for government organizations that have an interest in information on nonimmigrants whose primary reason for coming to the United States is to be students. Ensure that any document your employee presents is original and on the Lists of Acceptable Documents or is an acceptable receipt. ICE identifies and apprehends removable noncitizens, detains these individuals and removes illegal noncitizens from the United States. Enter the document title, issuing authority, number and expiration date from the original document your employee presented.

Individuals hired on or before Nov. 6, 1986, who are continuing in their employment and have a reasonable expectation of employment at all times. (Some limitations https://quickbooks-payroll.org/ to this exceptionapply.) Also excepted are individuals hired for employment in theCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on or before Nov. 27, 2009.

Complete and Correct Form I-9

Completed by employers for employees who are rehired or whose employment authorization requires reverification. In theCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , employers have had to complete Form I-9 CNMI for every employee hired for employment in the CNMI from Nov. 28, 2009 to Nov. 27, 2011. If Section 2 is completed after the employee accepts the job offer but before he or she will begin employment for wages or other remuneration, enter the date the employee expects to begin such employment. If the employee begins employment on a different date, cross out the expected start date and write in the correct start date. If Section 2 is completed after your employee began employment for wages or other remuneration. Enter the actual date your employee began employment for wages or other remuneration. An independent contractor is not considered an employee for Form I-9 purposes and does not need to complete Form I-9.

Once the documents have been physically inspected, the employer should add “documents physically examined” with the date of inspection to the Section 2 additional information field on the Form I-9, or to section 3 as appropriate. The flexibility announcement issued on March 20, 2020, notes that DHS will evaluate certain COVID-19-related Form I-9 completion practices on a case-by-case basis as they relate to the physical inspection of Form I-9 documentation. In most cases, if your company uses a temporary or staffing agency to obtain workers, those workers are employees of that agency and provide services to your company as independent contractors. The agency completes Form I-9 for each worker they provide to your company, because the workers are considered employees of the agency, not of your company.