What is I-9?
The I-9 form is used to verify an employee's identity and their ability to legally work in the United States. All U.S.-based employers must complete this form for every individual hired to work in the United States.
The main I-9 process involves two forms [1]:
Section 1 (Employee Information and Attestation)
Employees are required to fill out this form no later than their first day of employment, but cannot fill it out before an offer of employment is accepted.
Due to this time limitation, it’s suggested to have your employees begin to fill out this form well before their due date (such as right after they sign their offer letter).
This form includes:
Personal information (full legal name and any other legal names used, date of birth, and current address)
E-mail address and telephone numbers are both optional
If the employer participates in E-Verify, then the employee’s social security number is required
Citizenship status
If the employee is a lawful permanent resident or a noncitizen authorized to work in the U.S., then they also need to provide one of the following: an A-Number/USCIS Number, Form I-94 admission number, or foreign passport number/country of issue
An indication if they used a preparer or translator in order to help fill out the form (and the contact information for that preparer if they did)
A copy of a valid, legal document that proves their right to work in the U.S.
For this, employees must select from the U.S. government’s list of acceptable documents
This allows for either one document that establishes both identity and employment authorization (such as a United States passport), or two separate documents that each establish identity and employment authorization (such as a driver’s license and a social security card)
Legal signature and date of signing
Section 2 (Employer Review and Verification)
After Section 1 is submitted, the employer must fill out this form no later than three business days after the employee’s first day of work for pay.
This section involves:
Validating that all required fields have been filled out, and that the document is signed
This includes the employee’s social security number (if the employer participates in E-Verify)
If a preparer or translator was used, that they have also signed the document on the same day as the employee
Reviewing the provided document(s) to ensure that they appear to be genuine, related to the employee, and are not expired
If any errors are found during this review, then the employee must redo the Section 1 form and correct the noted errors.
Retaining forms [2]
Once both sections have been verified & completed, these documents (including copies or images of the employee-provided documents) must be kept on file for as long as the employee works for the company, and for a period of time after.
If the U.S. government requests an inspection of your employee’s I-9 documents, you must provide them within three business days.
If the employee worked for less than two years, retain their forms for three years to the day after their first day of employment
If the employee worked for more than two years, this timeframe goes down to one year after their first day
E-Verify
E-Verify is a federal program that electronically verifies the information from Form I-9 against records from the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. This additional verification helps employers to increase the accuracy of their employment eligibility process, ensuring that their workforce meets federal legal requirements. [3]
Participation in the E-Verify program is voluntary for most companies. Certain companies are required to enroll in it based on state law and federal regulation. [4]
If your company does use the E-Verify program, then a new case must be created in the E-Verify system every time a new I-9 form is completed. This must also be done within three business days of the employee’s start date.
The Fountain I-9 center makes this process easy by automatically creating and submitting a new E-Verify case after Section 2 is completed. Each E-Verify case will result in one of the following statuses: [5]
Employment Authorized - The employee’s information matched records available to DHS and/or SSA.
E-Verify Needs More Time - This case was referred to DHS for further verification.
Tentative Nonconfirmation (Mismatch) - Information did not match records available to DHS and/or SSA. Additional action is required.
Case in Continuance - The employee has contacted DHS or visited an SSA field office, but more time is needed to determine a final case result.
Close Case and Resubmit - DHS or SSA requires that you close the case and create a new case for this employee.
Final Nonconfirmation - E-Verify cannot confirm the employee’s employment eligibility after the employee contacted DHS or SSA, the time for resolving the case expired, or DHS closed the case without confirming the employee’s employment eligibility for some other reason.
Supplement B
If any of the following applies to an employee, then the employer must fill out an additional form (Supplement B): [6]
Employment authorization document has expired and needs reverification
The employee has a legal name change
The employee is rehired within 3 years of their original start date
This form does not need to be sent to E-Verify.
Responsibilities and Services of U.S. Government Organizations
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) that required employers to start examining documentation for each employee to verify their identity and right to work in the United States. [7]
Government organizations involved in the I-9 process:
USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) is an agency within DHS that oversees the entire I-9 form process.
This includes:
Setting guidelines for completing the forms
Ensuring that employers and employees adhere to regulations
Providing resources and support to help employers and employees maintain compliance with immigration laws
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for establishing and enforcing policies related to employment eligibility verification. These policies exist to ensure compliance with federal immigration laws.
Information collected and submitted via the I-9 form helps DHS to monitor and regulate the legal employment of individuals in the United States.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a law enforcement agency housed under DHS, and they are responsible for investigating any I-9 non-compliance cases. [8]
DHS works with the Social Security Administration (SSA) for the E-Verify program, as the SSA houses social security numbers for U.S. citizens. [9]
E-Verify
E-Verify is the federal program that electronically verifies the information submitted in Sections 1 and 2 of the I-9 form against records from DHS and the SSA.
This started as a pilot program with six U.S. states in 1997, where social security information was confirmed by phone. This expanded to a computer program a year later, where information could be sent to the SSA via modem. In 2004, this was updated to a web-based program, which was then renamed to E-Verify in 2007. The 2007 update also added support for photo matching between documents and government records. [10]
Today, E-Verify is administered by the Social Security Administration and USCIS. [11]
Changes Made in 2023
In 2020, USCIS introduced a temporary policy that allowed employers to temporarily defer in-person physical document examination due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This allowed employers to complete Section 2 by examining employee documents virtually (e.g., over video or email) instead.
Effective August 1st, 2023, USCIS made this policy permanent for employers who are using the E-Verify program. This policy allows employers to use an alternative procedure (aka "permanent virtual verification") to continue to inspect documents virtually. Employers must be enrolled in the E-Verify program to utilize this, and must submit an E-Verify case for each employee.
Under this policy, Section 2 document review can be completed by an authorized representative on behalf of the employer. This representative can be anyone but the employee themselves.
New form version [12]
Beginning November 1st, 2023, employers must use the most up to date version of the I-9 form. This version has many benefits, including:
Sections 1 and 2 are combined on one page, instead of two
The form is able to be easily filled out on mobile devices
A checkbox in Section 2 to indicate remote examination of documents (alternate procedure)
Supplement B
USCIS also made updates in 2023 to the Supplement B (formerly known as Section 3) process. This form, which handles re-verification and rehiring of employees, has been moved to its own document, separate from the main I-9 forms.
Digitizing I-9: the Fountain Approach
Confused by all of these updates and regulations? The Fountain I-9 Center makes it easy to select and implement the best options for completing Section 2 for your organization.
There are two main decisions to make when deciding how to complete Section 2: who completes the review, and how the verification is performed:
How to complete Section 2:
Section 2 document review can be performed one of two ways:
1). In-person: physical review of the documents themselves. This must be done within 3 days of the employee's first day of work.
2). Remotely: through live video (aka the "alternative procedure")
In order to be eligible for this alternative procedure, you must do the following:
In order to be eligible for this alternative procedure, you must do the following:
Review copies of Form I-9 documents or a receipt to ensure they appear genuine;
Conduct a live video interaction with the individual presenting the document(s) to confirm their authenticity and relevance;
Note on Form I-9 that an alternative procedure was used to examine documentation;
Keep a clear and legible copy of the documentation;
Provide clear copies of the identity and employment authorization documentation during a Form I-9 audit or investigation.
Note: if your company utilizes this alternative procedure with E-Verify at any hiring site (a location where employees are hired and complete the I-9 form), then all new employees for that hiring site must be offered the option to use the alternative procedure.
One exception to this requirement is that if a hiring site hires both in-person and remote employees, then that site has the option to only use this alternative procedure for its remote employees. [13]
Who completes Section 2:
Section 2 can be completed by one of two people:
1). Employer: you, as the employer, will examine the presented documentation to verify that is it legitimate.
2). Authorized Representative: a designated representative, who is not the employee themselves, can verify the documents on behalf of the employer.
This person can be chosen by you (the employer), or by the employee themselves.
Fountain-Supported Methods
No matter how you choose to complete section 2 document review, and by whom, the Fountain Worker Experience I-9 Center will be able to support it.
Our comprehensive and compliant functionality covers the following Section 2 completion methods:
Standard I-9: Using our standard scheduler functionality, the employee schedules an on-site document review with you, the employer.
Remote I-9: Also utilizing our scheduler functionality, the employee schedules a live video call with you, the employer, to validate their documents.
Smart I-9: Document review is completed in-person by an authorized representative of the employee's choosing.
Geolocation features are utilized to ensure that the employee and the authorized representative are in the same physical location.
I-9 End-to-End: The employee schedules a live video session with a Fountain-trained professional, who will review and validate their documents.
Need to use more than one solution? No problem! Our flexible segmentation functionality allows you to pick & choose between these options.
The I-9 router allows you to select which Section 2 completion method you will allow your employees to choose from: standard, remote, or Smart I-9 with an authorized representative. Each option can be set by job, location, or any other employee attribute.
Benefits of the Fountain I-9 Center include:
Exhaustivity: An all-in-one solution that offers all four possible methods of I-9 verification and compliance.
Flexibility: The only I-9 Solution that lets you customize the I-9-methods to different applicant segments.
Expertise: A best-in-class, easy to use admin panel to manage all I-9 workflows, exceptions and edge cases; along with a dedicated I-9 help center to answer all of your questions.
Sources
[1] Completing Form I-9: details & additional links on how to complete Section 1
[2] Retaining Forms: information on how to retain I-9 forms, and for how long
[3] E-Verify Eligibility: brief on who is required to participate in E-Verify
[4] E-Verify Guide: PDF on FAQs for using E-Verify
[5] E-Verify verification process: details on the E-Verify verification process, including a list of all possible case status results
[6] Supplement B: article on when & how to complete the Supplement B form
[7] I-9 History: detailed timeline on main events in the history of the I-9 program
[8] ICE History: brief article on the history of ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement)
[9] SSA: E-Verify page on how the Social Security Administration plays a part in I-9
[10] E-Verify History: key points about E-Verify in the larger I-9 historical timeline
[11] E-Verify Administration: information about the myE-Verify site, including background on administration of the site
[12] 2023 Updates: bulletin about the 2023 updates to the I-9 form
[13] Hiring Sites: definitions and overview of what hiring sites are, and the role they play in I-9
Related Articles
➡️ Next articles: I-9 FAQs and I-9 Setup & Configuration
ℹ️ All I-9 articles: