Sarah Bileti
By Sarah Bileti and Emma Fahey
Employers will soon be required to use a new version of Form I-9 for Employment Eligibility Verification, according to a July 2023 announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The introduction of the revised form corresponds with the end of temporary COVID-19 flexibilities that allowed employers to remotely examine employee identity and work authorization documents between March 20, 2020 and July 31, 2023. For employers enrolled in E-Verify, the DHS has approved a permanent procedure for the remote verification of employee Form I-9 documents that will take effect on August 1, 2023.
Employers who were enrolled in E-Verify during the COVID-19 pandemic and utilized temporary COVID-19 flexibilities to review employee documents remotely may continue to use the remote verification procedure for employees hired prior to August 1, 2023 if the following conditions apply:
- The employer was enrolled in E-Verify at the time the employee’s Form I-9 documents were inspected remotely.
- An E-Verify case was created for that employee.
- The remote review of the employee’s Form I-9 documents was conducted during the temporary COVID-19 flexibility period from March 20, 2020 to July 31, 2023.
If the E-Verify employer opts to continue utilizing the remote verification procedure for employee identification and work authorization documents, an annotation should be added to the Form I-9 indicating that the required documents were presented and examined during a live video interaction between the employer and employee. Employers who do not meet the conditions above are still required to physically examine employee Form I-9 documents by August 30, 2023. Employers may also consider enrolling in E-Verify if they have not already done so in order to take advantage of the remote verification procedure for Form I-9 documentation in the future.
The revised Form I-9 will become mandatory for all employers on November 1, 2023, but the current version will be accepted until October 31, 2023. Employers should be sure to continue to maintain clear and consistent records of I-9 compliance through both physical and remote document inspection as the new version of the form is implemented.
Emma Fahey assisted in writing this article. Emma is an Immigration Project Assistant at Holland & Hart and is not an attorney.
