November 12, 2007

USCIS issues new I-9 employment eligibility form

Legislation updates provided by Rob Smith, Ceridian manager of Government Relations

USCIS issues new I-9 employment eligibility form
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service on November 9 released a new I-9 form. As of November 7, 2007, the Form I-9 with a revision date of June 5, 2007 is the only valid version for employers' use. The revised Employment Eligibility Verification form removes five documents for proof of both identity and employment eligibility, including: Certificate of U.S. Citizenship, Certificate of Naturalization, Alien Registration Receipt Card, the unexpired Refugee Travel Document and the unexpired Re-entry Permit. The forms were removed because they lacked sufficient features to deter counterfeiting and fraud, according to USCIS.

Additionally, the revised I-9 form accepts the most recent version of the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) to the list of acceptable documents, which also includes a U.S. passport, a permanent resident card, an unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp, an unexpired employment authorization document that contains a photograph and an unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired arrival-departure record (Form I-94).

While employers may begin using the revised form immediately, it will become effective when posted by the Department of Homeland Security in the federal register at a later date.

You can find the updated form at: www.uscis.gov.