On November 8th of this year, USCIS told employers about the new Form I-9, which removes five documents from the list of acceptable credentials and adds one document to the list of acceptable credentials that employers can use to verify the employment eligibility of new hires.
HOWEVER in the November 8th notice employers were informed they could use the new Form I-9, but were not required to do so. That just changed. The USCIS now says it will allow a 30-day transition period before use of the new Form I-9 becomes mandatory. During the transition period, employers will not be subject to fines or penalties for using the old Form I-9. Once the transition period ends, employers who do not use the new Form I-9 could face fines or other penalties, as mandated by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, USCIS says.
The revised Form I-9 removes five documents from “List A” that employers may accept from new hires. The revised List A, which is to “Establish Both Identity and Employment Eligibility,” adds one document to the index.
The documents employers can accept under List A on the new form I-9 are:
• U.S. passport.
• Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551).
• Unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp.
• Unexpired Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766, I-688, I-688A or I-688B).
• Unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired “Arrival-Departure Record,” Form I-94, bearing the same name as the passport and containing an endorsement of the alien’s nonimmigrant status, if that status authorizes the alien to work for the employer.
The documents removed from List A and no longer acceptable are:
• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561).
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570).
• Alien Registration Receipt Card (I-151).
• Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327).
• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571).
