USCIS has finally issued the new I-9 Form, required for US employers to verify whether an employee is authorized to work in the US. The form’s “Revision Date” is “3/8/2013.” All employers must be using this version by May 7, 2013. If US employers are reverifying existing workers or rehiring prior workers they must use the new form now. After May 7th, failure to use the new form for new hires will result in I-9 violations.

The new form has 6 pages of instructions and the form itself is now 2 pages. There are new fields for e-mail address, phone number and foreign passport in Section 1, but Sections 2 and 3 are essentially unchanged.

An I-9 Form is required for all US employees hired by a US worker. This process is mandatory and is regulated by the US Department of Homeland Security/ICE. This is not to be mistaken with E-Verify which for most employers, is NOT mandatory under Federal law. Many states are mandating that employers comply with E-verify so US employers should check with their state rules where they have their place of employment or do business. E-verify is online verification system that allows US employers to know if a US worker is “verified” in terms of name/social security number.

You may obtain the new Form I-9 (Rev.03/08/13)N by visiting I-9 Central or the USCIS website www.uscis.gov

For any questions about I-9 compliance under federal law or Colorado law contact Catherine Brown at 303-322-2117.