All U.S. employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of new hires using the mandatory Form I-9. On Jan. 31, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) published a Form I-9 Federal Register notice announcing a new version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. The Office of Management and Budget approved this new Form I-9 on October 21, 2019.  The previous version of the form (Rev. 07/17/2017 N) may be used until April 30, 2020, but employers are encouraged to begin using the new version immediately. 

The new Form I-9 contains certain minor changes. On the new Form I-9, the USCIS revised the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the Issuing Authority field (when selecting a foreign passport) in Section 2 to add Eswatini and Macedonia, North in accordance with those countries’ recent name changes.   In the new Form I-9’s instructions, the USCIS clarified who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer, updated the USCIS website addresses, provided clarification on acceptable documents for the Form I-9, updated the process for requesting paper Form I-9s, and updated the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Notice.

The new Form I-9 has an expiration date of October 31, 2022 and a new revision date of October 21, 2019. 

If you have any questions or concerns about the new Form I-9, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Employment and Labor Practice Group at Laddey, Clark & Ryan, LLP: Thomas N. Ryan Esq. (tryan@lcrlaw.com), Ursula H. Leo, Esq. (uleo@lcrlaw.com), or Nicole C. Tracy, Esq. (ntracy@lcrlaw.com). Our attorneys can also be reached by phone at (973) 729-1880.