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Not Again! There’s a New, New Form I-9

by | HR Resolutions

tired employee working at his desk

Just as employers are finally getting comfortable with the most recent version of the Form I-9 that rolled out late last year, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced yet another revised Form I-9. This latest version bears a revision date of “07/17/17 N”, and – like it’s prior iteration – expires on 8/31/2019. Both the online version and the printable version can be found on the USCIS website.

Although employers can begin to use the new form as of July 17, 2017, they aren’t required to embrace the change immediately. Employers will be able to use the most recent Form I-9 (with a revision date of “11/14/16 N”) until September 18, 2017. After that, however, the new form must be used.

So, what changed? Thankfully, the online PDF version of the new form still contains all the “smart” features unveiled last year that should help employers complete the form with fewer errors. The changes themselves are mostly technical in nature, and shouldn’t drastically affect how you are currently completing the Form:

Revisions to the I-9 instructions:

  • The name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices is changed to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
  • The form will remove “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”

Revisions related to the I-9’s List of Acceptable Documents:

  • Added: the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) to List C. E
  • Combined: all the certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State into selection C#2 in List C.
  • Renumbered: all List C documents except the Social Security card. For example, the employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security on List C will change from List C #8 to List C #7.

Employers must continue following existing storage and retention rules for any previously completed Form I-9. And for anyone considering “forgetting” to implement the new form in a timely fashion, know this: Trump’s Administration still plans to deploy at least 10,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to focus on civil and criminal investigation, which could vastly increase the number of I-9 workplace audits the agency normally conducts.