Form I-9 finalized . . . for real this time

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published a final rule confirming all of the Form I-9 changes that they established in an interim final rule that took effect two years ago. The DHS still insists that new hires must show unexpired documents when they are asked to prove their identity and eligibility for employment. Also, they have confirmed that you are still permitted to use the Form I-9 with a revision date of 08/07/09 or the older version with a revision date of 02/02/09 in the bottom right hand corner. Various commenters requested further changes to the form, but the agency decided to leave everything “as is” for now (76 Fed Reg 21225, April 15, 2011).

Tips: Are you confident that your Forms I-9 are accurate? It’s easy to miss a field or fail to capture the right information from the documents provided by a new hire. See our Legal Guide, “Form I-9: Surviving an Immigration Audit” (1420).