The form I-9 is used for verifying the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. It has been recently updated on March 8, 2013. The new form is 9 pages long; with the first 6 pages being explanations and instructions, pages 7 and 8 being the actual form, and page 9 discusses appropriate verification documents. All U.S. employers must ensure proper completion of Form I-9 for each candidate they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and non-citizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete various sections of the form.

The Employee Portion:

On the form, an employee must verify his or her employment authorization and fills out the majority of page 7. The employer CANNOT fill out this section for the employee. New to this form is the addition of a phone number and email address. There is also more room for an employee to fill out Alien Registration numbers or I-94 information. They also fill out their personal information such as name, address, SSN, and birthdate. They may have a translator fill out that section for them, with the translator filling out the appropriate section at the end of page seven.

The employer portion:

The employee must present his or her employer with acceptable documents evidencing identity and employment authorization. The employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee and record the document information. The recording of these documents is on page 8, which is new to this I-9. The previous I-9 was all on one page. Employers must record one document from List A, or 2 documents from List B AND C. You will also notice 3-D barcode boxes on both page 7 and 8 of the form I-9. This is a new feature. Page 8 also has the section for reverification and rehires, which is slightly bigger than the previously dated form. The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the form, page 9. Illustrations of many of the applicable documents appear in Part 8 of the Handbook for Employers.

Employers must retain Form I-9 for a designated period and make it available for inspection by authorized government officers. Form I-9 must be retained and stored by the employer either for three years after the date of hire or for one year after employment is terminated, whichever is later. The new form I-9 is found on the USCIS website here: Form I-9.

Employers should begin using the 03/08/13 dated form right away, older forms dated 02/02/09 and 08/07/09 will be accepted until May 7, 2013. After May 7, 2013, only the 03/08/13 will be accepted. The revision date is on the lower left corner of the form. Since the form is significantly different from previous dated forms, it would be a good idea to do a trial run on yourself to become familiar with the new format.