MMC, Inc. HR Tip Volume 1 Issue 5

April 2009

New I-9 Form is Now Effective

Written by: Michele O'Donnell, M.S. Human Resources Management

Starting April 3, 2009, employers must use the new version of the Department of Homeland Security's Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (Rev. 02/02/09). The Department of Homeland Security also has issued a revised Handbook for Employers to be used with the new Form I-9. Employers using the previous editions of the Form I-9 after February 2, 2009 may be subject to fines.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has also narrowed the list of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents, requiring employers to accept only unexpired documents, and making several technical changes.

Three Documents Removed from List A: USCIS has removed three documents from List A. These can no longer be used to establish both identity and employment authorization:

• Form I-688 Employment Authorization Document;
• Form I-688A Employment Authorization Document; and
• Form I-688B Employment Authorization Document.

Three Documents Added to List A: Three documents have been added to List A to establish both identity and employment authorization:

• A temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa in addition to the foreign passport with a temporary I-55 1 stamp;
• A passport from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with a valid Form I-94 or Form I-94A indicating non-immigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the US and the FSM or RMI
• A U.S. passport card.

Other Changes

Expired documents are no longer considered acceptable documents for the revised Form I-9, including U.S. passports and all List B documents used to establish identity. Only unexpired documents can be accepted.
Additionally, in Section 1 of the revised Form I-9, "citizen of the United States" and "non-citizen national of the United States" will now be two separate categories. Non-citizen nationals are:

• Persons born in American Samoa
• Certain former citizens of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and
• Certain children of non-citizen nationals born abroad.

The new I-9 form and Handbook for Employers are both available on our website.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this article please contact us: 800-899-6624