USCIS Issues new I-9 Form
2007-11/12 Sara J. Ackermann

On November 7, 2007, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issued a revised Form I-9 and revised Handbook for Employers regarding completion of this form. Under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), U.S. employers are required to document on Form I-9 that all citizen and non-citizen employees hired after November 6, 1986, are eligible to work in the U.S. and that their identities match the information on their employment authorization documents.The most significant change to the revised Form I-9 is the elimination of five documents from List A of the List of Acceptable Documents. These are as follows:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-570)
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570) 
• Alien Registration Receipt Card(FormI-151)
• Unexpired Reentry Permit(Form I-327)
• Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571).

One document was added to List A of the List of Acceptable Documents:

•  Unexpired Employment Authorization Document (I-766)

The revised Form I-9 will become effective once the notice is published in the Federal Register, however, employers are encouraged to start using it immediately. After the effective date, employers may incur fines and penalties for failing to use the new Form I-9. Employers do not need to complete new forms for existing employees for whom an I-9 has been completed. The new forms can be found at the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/i-9.

For further information, please contact Attorney Sara Ackermann, who prepared this article, or any of the attorneys within the Employment, Labor & Benefits Practice Group of Ruder Ware: Ron Rutlin, Dean Dietrich, Jeffrey T. Jones, Mary Ellen Schill, and Christopher Toner.

© 2007 Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C. Accurate reproduction with acknowledgment granted. All rights reserved.
This document provides information of a general nature regarding legislative or other legal developments. None of the information contained herein is intended as legal advice or opinion relative to specific matters, facts, situations, or issues, and additional facts and information or future developments may affect the subjects addressed.