Effective April 3, 2009, employers will be required to use the revised Form I-9 issued by the Department of Homeland Security. The new changes are outlined here.

Effective April 3, 2009, employers will be required to use the revised Form I-9 issued by the Department of Homeland Security. The amended Form I-9 may not be used until April 3, 2009. The primary reason for the change is to further improve the employment verification process so that certain unauthorized individuals are not allowed to work in the United States. For more detailed information, employers may refer to the USCIS Handbook for Employers (Form M-274) (sorry, link no longer available).

The changes to the Form I-9 are outlined below:

Acceptable Documents

• Employers will no longer be able to accept documents with an expiration date.
  • This measure will deter counterfeiters from substituting an unauthorized user's photograph in expired documents to obtain unauthorized employment.

Section 1

• Provides a fourth choice by making "citizen of the United States" and "noncitizen national of the United States, as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1408" two separate categories.
  • The reason for separating the two groups is to "eliminate one difficulty that currently exists when prosecuting those who make false claims to U.S. citizenship."
• Replaces the text "An alien authorized to work until --/--/-- (Alien or Admission number -------------" with the text "An alien authorized to work (A or Admission ------ ------ ) until (expiration date, if applicable --month/day/year) --/--/--."

Section 2

• List A Documents
  • Foreign passport that contains a temporary I-551 stamp or temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa.
  • Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B are no longer used. These forms are no longer issued and have all reached the document expiration date.
  • Adds references to I-94A

• List C Documents
  • Replaces Social Security number card with "Social Security account number card"
  • Form FS-545 and Form DS-1350 are separated into two separate line items
  • Employment Authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security

Section 3

• Clarification to Reverification Policy
  • Reverification is not required for those employees whose work authorization does not expire:
    • Certain citizens of the Federal States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands
    • Asylees
    • Refugees

Emerald Software Group can help your company remain compliant with your Form I-9, as well as many other state and federal forms, through a completely paperless process with allegroHR.

Emerald Software Group is a world leader in business solutions based upon Business Process Management (BPM) technologies. The company's Human Capital solutions include onboarding, employee lifecycle requisitioning, personnel change management, and employment verification services including integration to the Department of Homeland Security's e-Verify program. The company also offers other solutions in Applied BPM. Emerald operates in both North America and Europe. Emerald Software's website is www.emeraldsoftwaregroup.com.