Attention employers! The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has issued a new form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. This is the form which you are required to have all new (and rehired) employees complete when they are hired to verify they are eligible to work in the U.S.
The new I-9 (revision date 3/8/13) expands the actual form from one to two pages but really doesn’t ask for too much more information. There is more space to list which documents have been used for verification and the area where the employee verifies that they are eligible for U.S. employment has been expanded slightly. The instructions have also been expanded.
Employers have been required since 1986 to have all employees complete an I-9 and keep the form in their files. This has not changed. Also, employers are not required to have current employees with an I-9 on file fill out the new form. The new form is only required for new and re-hired employees. The form needs to be completed by the first day the employee works but it shouldn’t be done before the employee accepts the job.
Employers must keep the completed forms on file and they can be inspected by several Federal departments. Employers who don’t maintain the files can be subject to civil penalties and possible criminal penalties.
The new I-9 can be downloaded on the USCIS website.
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