07/26/17

USCIS Releases New Form I-9 and Form I-9 Instructions

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a new version of and instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. By September 18, 2017, employers must use only the new version.

Compliance Dates for New Form I-9
The new Form I-9 features a revision date of July 17, 2017 (07/17/17 N). While employers may continue using a Form I-9 with a revision date of November 14, 2016 (11/14/16 N) through September 17, 2017, as of September 18, 2017, employers must use only the new version.

Changes to Form I-9
The following revisions have been made to the List of Acceptable Documents section of the new Form I-9:

  • The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) has been added to List C. Employers completing Form I-9 on a computer are now able to select Form FS-240 from the drop-down menus available in List C of Section 2 and Section 3. 
  • All the certifications of report of birth issued by the U.S. Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS-1350, and Form FS-240) are now combined into selection C#2 in List C.
  • All List C documents have been renumbered except the Social Security card. For example, the employment authorization document issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on List C has changed from List C #8 to List C #7.

Changes to Form I-9 Instructions
The following revisions have been made to the new Form I-9 instructions:

  • The phrase "the end of" has been removed from the phrase "the first day of employment."
  • The name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices has been changed to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.

The new Form I-9 and instructions can be downloaded here.

For more information on complying with the employment eligibility verification requirements, please visit our section on Form I-9.