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Ask the hotline

Posted on May 16, 2022

Question

I heard some rumors about changes to the employment eligibility verification (Form I-9) during 2022. Are there changes in the works?

Answer

There are at least three significant developments related to the Form I-9.

First, as of May 1, employers are no longer able to accept expired identity documents when verifying an employee’s work eligibility on Form I-9.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending its temporary COVID-19-related policy of allowing employers to use expired List B identity documents for I-9 purposes. List B identity documents include driver’s licenses and state ID cards. This change in policy requires employers to review the I-9s of new hires of the past two years to update expired documents, as noted below.

Coupled with the announcement, the DHS announced that as of July 31, it will require employers to update the Form I-9s of current employees who presented expired List B documents between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022.

According to DHS:

If the employee who presented an expired List B document is still employed, the employee must provide an unexpired document that establishes identity. Appropriate documentation includes:

  • a renewed version of the expired List B document that was previously presented,
  • a different unexpired List B document, or
  • an unexpired List A document [such as a U.S. passport or permanent resident card] that establishes both identify and work authorization.

Once the employee presents the new document, the employer should enter the title, number, issuing authority and expiration date in the Additional Information Field of Section 2 of the Form I-9, and then initial and date that section of the form. Alternatively, the employer could complete section 2 of the new form I-9 and appended to the original.

If the employee is no longer employed by the company, no action is necessary. In addition, no action is required if a List B document was auto extended by the issuing authority. While no action is required it is probably a good idea to include a brief explanatory memo saying that this person was originally hired during this 2-year pandemic period, and that is the reason the expired document was accepted.

Second, the Form I-9 is scheduled for its three-year tune-up. The vital employment eligibility verification document, an essential step in every new-hire onboarding, is projected to receive a major structural overhaul by the time the current form expires on Oct. 31. Please keep in mind that nothing is finalized until the new form is issued.

According to federal law, the Department of Homeland Security must review and revise the form I-9 every three years. This autumn will mark the end of the current 3-year period. The official document announcing the proposed changes is available here.

The proposed changes include:

  • Reducing Sections 1 and 2 from two pages to one page.
  • Moving Section 3 to a separate Reverification and Rehire Supplement.
  • Updating the List of Acceptable Documents to include a link to List C documents on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website as the current Form I-9 does not include all List C documents.
  • Reducing and simplifying the form’s instructions from 15 pages to 7 pages.
  • Removing electronic PDF enhancements to ensure that the form can be completed on all electronic devices.
  • Eliminating the N/A requirement in Section 1

The removal of the QR code box. Skip to main content

Finally, ICE has announced the extension of I-9 compliance flexibility through October 31, 2022

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), on April 25 announced another extension of the Form I-9 flexibilities first announced in March 2020 and updated in March 2021.

On February 18, 2022, President Biden issued a notice on the continuation of the state of the National Emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic (“COVID-19”). Due to the continued safety precautions related to COVID-19, DHS will extend the updated flexibilities until October 31, 2022.

For more information, please see the original March 20, 2020, policy announcement.

AIM members interested in discussing this or other human resources matters may call the AIM Employer hotline at 800-470-6277.