Klasko Immigration Law Partners, LLP wishes to remind our clients that the new I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form, will become effective on April 3, 2009. The new I-9 form revises the list of acceptable documents that employers may accept to verify the identity and work eligibility of newly hired employees. It can be obtained from USCIS at http://www.uscis.gov/i-9.
The changes to Form I-9 require that all of the documents presented by an employee to establish work eligibility are unexpired. Additionally, the interim final rule adds several new documents to the list of acceptable documents to establish a new hire’s identity and work eligibility. Finally, Section 1 of the Form makes some changes to the part of the form in which new hires attest to their immigration status.
The requirement to use the new form was originally slated to become effectively on February 2; however, the federal government pushed the date back as part of a broader effort by the Obama Administration to review all regulations issued in the last weeks of the Bush Administration. In the absence of a directive postponing the implementation of the new Form I-9 further, it is critical for employers to ensure that they are in compliance with immigration regulations beginning on April 3rd.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 requires employers to use the Form I-9 to verify the identity and work eligibility of all employees hired after November 6, 1986. Employers are required to properly complete the Form I-9 every time they hire an employee (citizen or non-citizen) to perform labor or services in return for wages or other remuneration.
