Form I-9
Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is a form issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that employers in the United States must use to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment.[1] Enacted as part of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, which aimed to deter the employment of unauthorized workers by imposing verification requirements on employers, the form applies to all hires after November 6, 1986, including U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, lawful permanent residents, and nonimmigrants authorized to work.[2][3] The form consists of three sections: Section 1, which the employee completes and signs no later than the first day of employment to attest to their employment authorization status; Section 2, which the employer completes within three business days of hire by examining original documents from Lists A, B, or C establishing identity and/or employment authorization; and Section 3 for reverification or rehires, if applicable.[4][3] Employers must retain the completed Form I-9 for a specified period—three years after hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later—and make it available for inspection by authorized government officials, with civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance, including fines for paperwork errors or knowing hiring of unauthorized workers.[3][5] While Form I-9 relies on document review, it has been supplemented by E-Verify, an electronic system introduced in 1996 as a pilot and expanded thereafter, allowing employers to confirm eligibility through federal databases, though participation remains voluntary in most states except where mandated.[6] The form has undergone periodic revisions to update acceptable documents and instructions, reflecting changes in immigration law and anti-fraud measures, but its core purpose remains employer-based verification to enforce restrictions on unauthorized employment.[7]History and Legal Foundation
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), enacted as Public Law 99-603, was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986.[8] This legislation introduced employer sanctions aimed at curbing illegal immigration by prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized aliens.[2] To enforce this, IRCA mandated that all U.S. employers verify the identity and employment eligibility of individuals hired for employment after November 6, 1986, using Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.[2][9] The core mechanism of IRCA's employment verification requirement was to shift partial responsibility for immigration enforcement to the private sector, creating a causal link between hiring practices and the influx of unauthorized workers.[10] By requiring documentation review and recordkeeping, the law sought to deter employers from hiring ineligible individuals through the threat of civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance.[11] This approach represented an attempt to address illegal immigration not solely through border enforcement but by disrupting the economic incentives driving unauthorized employment.[12] Form I-9 was designed as the standardized tool for this verification process, requiring employees to attest to their eligibility under penalty of perjury and employers to examine original documents establishing identity and work authorization.[13] The original form included lists of acceptable documents, categorized into those proving both identity and employment authorization (List A) or separate proofs for identity (List B) and authorization (List C), ensuring a structured yet flexible compliance framework from its inception.[6] This verification mandate applied uniformly to all new hires, regardless of citizenship status, to prevent discrimination while fulfilling the law's deterrence objective.[2]Key Revisions and Milestones
The transition from paper-based Form I-9 processes to electronic options began with regulatory changes allowing employers to complete, sign, and store forms electronically, provided systems met specific security and audit trail requirements under 8 CFR 274a.2, effective October 2004. This facilitated greater efficiency but maintained core paper verification of documents until later flexibilities. In the 1990s, expansions included updated lists of acceptable documents to reflect evolving identification standards, such as adding driver's licenses from additional states.[14] A significant milestone occurred in November 2007 with an amended Form I-9 requiring employees to provide their Social Security number in Section 1 if their employer participated in E-Verify, enhancing data linkage between the form and the federal electronic verification system launched in 1997.[15] The March 8, 2013, edition introduced a two-page format separating employee attestation from employer verification, aiming to reduce errors through clearer sections.[16] The July 17, 2017, edition (mandatory from January 22, 2017) incorporated "smart" features in the fillable PDF version, including data validation, drop-down menus, and prompts to minimize common completion mistakes like omitted fields.[17] Enforcement emphasis shifted further with temporary remote document inspection flexibilities announced in March 2020 due to COVID-19, allowing deferred physical examination for remote workers; these were extended multiple times—through April 2021, July 2022, and finally July 31, 2023—to prioritize health precautions over immediate in-person reviews.[18] [19] The August 1, 2023, edition, mandatory from November 1, 2023, streamlined the layout by condensing instructions from 15 to 8 pages and introduced a permanent alternative remote examination procedure for E-Verify-enrolled employers in good standing, using live video to inspect documents while retaining anti-fraud notations on the form.[20] [21] This update reflected ongoing integration of technology to balance compliance burdens with verification integrity, without altering core eligibility checks.[22]Purpose and Scope
Verification of Employment Eligibility
Form I-9 requires all U.S. employers to verify the identity and employment authorization of every individual hired for employment in the United States after November 6, 1986, by examining acceptable documents presented by the employee within three business days of the hire date.[3][1] This process establishes a foundational check against unauthorized employment, directly addressing the absence of prior federal prohibitions on hiring individuals lacking work authorization, which had enabled widespread employment of unauthorized workers before 1986.[23] The verification mechanism operates through physical inspection of original documents, confirming both identity and eligibility without reliance on electronic databases, thereby creating an immediate barrier to employing unauthorized labor by imposing employer accountability for document authenticity.[24] Empirical evidence from the pre-IRCA period underscores the necessity of this deterrent, as the lack of verification contributed to an unauthorized workforce estimated in the millions, with IRCA's amnesty legalizing approximately 2.7 million individuals who had entered unlawfully before 1982, highlighting the scale of unchecked employment that the I-9 process aimed to curb through mandatory scrutiny.[25][26] In distinction from optional systems like E-Verify, which cross-checks Form I-9 data against federal records for additional confirmation, the I-9 verification remains a standalone, universally required procedure focused on document-based validation rather than database matching, ensuring broad applicability without mandating technological integration.[27][28] This core function disrupts the causal incentives for unauthorized migration by eliminating plausible deniability for employers, as successful evasion depends on both falsified documents passing inspection and sustained hiring risks, thereby reducing the pull of U.S. job markets for ineligible workers.[29]Applicability and Exemptions
All employers in the United States must complete Form I-9 for each individual hired after November 6, 1986, to perform labor or services in return for wages or other remuneration, including U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, and noncitizens authorized to work.[5] [3] This requirement extends to full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal positions, with no exemptions based on employer size, employee age (provided minors have work authorization), or duration of employment, even for one-day hires.[5] The obligation applies to employment within the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (effective November 28, 2009), and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[5] Exemptions are narrowly defined to exclude certain non-employee relationships and pre-statute hires. Form I-9 is not required for independent contractors, as they are not considered employees under the verification rules, nor for employees of independent contractors unless the hiring entity directly employs them.[30] [5] Similarly, casual domestic service workers employed sporadically, irregularly, or intermittently in a private household for personal use—such as occasional babysitters or house cleaners paid directly by the household—are exempt, though regular household employees receiving wages subject to Social Security taxes must comply.[30] [5] Employees hired on or before November 6, 1986, who have maintained continuous employment with a reasonable expectation of ongoing work are exempt from Form I-9 requirements.[31] For rehires or continuing employment scenarios, a new Form I-9 is generally not required if the individual is rehired within three years of the original form's completion date and the prior form remains valid; employers may instead update the existing form or complete Supplement B for reverification only if the employee's work authorization expires.[31] These provisions apply uniformly to prevent evasion, with employers retaining liability for accurate verification regardless of delegation to representatives.[5]Form Completion and Documentation
Employee Responsibilities
Employees must complete Section 1 of Form I-9 no later than the first day of employment, which is defined as the actual commencement of work for pay.[32] In this section, employees provide their full legal name, current address, date of birth, and an attestation of their citizenship or immigration status, selecting from options such as U.S. citizen, noncitizen national, lawful permanent resident, or an alien authorized to work until a specified date.[13] Noncitizens attesting to work authorization must also include their Alien Registration Number, USCIS number, or I-94 number, along with an expiration date if applicable.[33] By signing Section 1, employees personally attest under penalty of perjury that all provided information, including the selected status, is true and correct to the best of their knowledge.[4] This certification imposes direct accountability on the employee for the accuracy of their claims regarding employment eligibility, with knowingly false statements subject to criminal penalties under federal law.[33] Within three business days of employment start—except when hired for less than three days, in which case documentation is required by the first day—employees must present original, unexpired documents from the Lists of Acceptable Documents to demonstrate identity and employment authorization.[13] Employees select these documents independently, typically one from List A (establishing both identity and authorization) or one from List B (identity) combined with one from List C (authorization); employers must accept any valid combination without specifying or preferring particular documents to avoid discrimination.[4][34] Common errors in employee completion, such as omitting required fields, using nicknames instead of legal names, or failing to update status changes, can invalidate the form and expose the employee to scrutiny during audits or enforcement actions.[33] Employees bear sole responsibility for ensuring the completeness and truthfulness of Section 1, independent of employer assistance, which is limited to clarifying instructions but not filling out the form on their behalf.[35]Employer Verification Process
Employers are required to verify the identity and employment authorization of each newly hired employee by physically examining original documents presented by the employee that establish these elements, ensuring a reasonable belief in their authenticity and unexpired status.[36] This examination must occur no later than three business days after the employee's first day of paid employment, during which the employer completes Section 2 of Form I-9 by recording pertinent details from the documents, such as issuing authority, document numbers, and expiration dates if applicable.[3] The employer or an authorized representative attests to this review by signing the form under penalty of perjury, certifying that the documents reasonably appear genuine and relate to the individual, thereby assuming legal responsibility for any inaccuracies or failures in this process.[13] To maintain compliance, employers must avoid practices that discriminate or preemptively screen applicants, such as requesting specific documents before a job offer or conditioning employment on verification outcomes prior to the employee's start date; however, verification may proceed post-offer as long as it applies uniformly without regard to citizenship or immigration status.[36] Forms I-9 should not be segregated from other personnel records to prevent implications of disparate treatment based on protected characteristics.[3] Failure to adhere to these protocols exposes employers to civil penalties, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) audits demonstrating widespread deficiencies: in fiscal year 2017 alone, businesses faced $97.6 million in judicial forfeitures, fines, and restitution alongside $7.8 million in civil fines for I-9 violations.[37] Empirical evidence from ICE enforcement actions indicates that insufficiently rigorous document examination causally contributes to unauthorized employment, as audits frequently uncover both technical errors (e.g., incomplete sections) and substantive issues (e.g., acceptance of invalid documents), enabling non-compliant hiring on a large scale; for instance, ICE issued over 5,200 I-9 audit notices in the first phase of 2025 nationwide operations, with penalties escalating to nearly $30,000 per violation for knowing hires of unauthorized workers.[37][38] Such patterns highlight the necessity of methodical, evidence-based verification to deter systemic lapses that undermine employment eligibility enforcement.[36]Acceptable Documents
Form I-9 requires employees to present original, unexpired documents establishing both identity and employment authorization, categorized into List A for documents proving both, or one document from List B (identity) combined with one from List C (employment authorization).[39] All documents bearing an expiration date must be unexpired at the time of presentation, though extensions issued by the document's authority render them acceptable as unexpired; soon-to-expire documents are permitted if not yet expired.[4] Photocopies are generally unacceptable for verification, with the sole exception of certified copies of birth certificates; employers may retain copies of presented originals for their records but cannot accept copies in lieu of originals.[13] List A Documents (establish both identity and employment authorization):- U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card
- Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551)
- Foreign passport containing a temporary I-551 stamp or notation
- Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) with photograph
- Certain other DHS-issued documents with photograph, such as those for parolees or refugees[39]
- Driver's license or ID card issued by a U.S. state, outlying possession, or federal agency
- School-issued ID card with photograph
- Voter's registration card
- Military ID or draft record
- Tribal document issued by a Native American tribe[39]
- Social Security Account Number card (unrestricted for employment)
- U.S. birth certificate issued by state, county, or municipal authority
- Certification of birth abroad (Form FS-545 or DS-1350)
- Native American tribal document
- Certain U.S. Citizen ID cards issued by DHS[39]