Blog Post: Yet Another New I-9 Form Required By Employers

Today I attended the East County Personnel Association luncheon and walked away with a great deal of information from the presenter, Sandra A. Marciari, Esq. of SAM & Associates. The topic was on Training Compliance and Effective Investigations. I must say, Sandra's presentation was both informative and entertaining! In addition, I received an employment law alert on the new I-9 form from Elizabeth Koumas, founder of the law firm Koumas Law Group. Below is some key information from the article I received:

On December 17, 2008, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published in the Federal Register revised I-9 regulations and, once again, a new Form I-9. Please note, the DHS has now substantively revised the form. Employers were originally expected to use the new form beginning on February 2, 2009.

However, on January 30, 2009, the USCIS announced that it has delayed the effective date for implementing an interim final rule, "Documents Acceptable for Employment Eligibility Verification" and using the revised Form I-9, originally scheduled to go into effect on February 2, 2009. Based on this announcement of a 60 day delay, the new I-9 form is not going to be required to be used by employers until April 3, 2009.

Please note: Employers who use the new form prior to the April 3, 2009 effective date are subject to civil monetary penalties. (Until further notice, continue using the old I-9 Form which is available on the Kumas Law Group website.)

The revisions to the Employment Eligibility Verification form, issued in December, 2008, narrows the list of acceptable identity documents and further specifies that expired documents are no longer considered acceptable forms of identification. All employers must complete an I-9 form for each newly hired employee to verify the individual's identity and authorization to work in the United States.

In issuing the new form, the agency commented that an expansive list of acceptable documents makes it difficult to verify valid and acceptable forms and single out fraudulent documents, thus compromising the effectiveness and security of the employment verification process. The following is a summary of the recent substantive changes to the new 2009 form:

* Expired documents are not permitted (e.g., an expired passport is no longer acceptable)

* Documents I-688, I-688A, or I-688B may not be used

* Foreign passports with machine-readable visas may be used

Taken from the Kumas Law Group Employment Law Alert, February 2009.  A printable copy is available at http://www.koumaslaw.com/pdf/newsletters/Feb09.pdf