Legal Alert: New I-9 Form Required

On December 17, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued revised I-9 regulations and an updated Form I-9. Effective February 2, 2009, employers must use the new Form I-9 for new hires.* Existing employees should not be required to complete new I-9 forms as a result of these changes. Among the most notable changes are the following:

Expired Documents Are No Longer Acceptable: Previously, U.S. passports and List B documents were acceptable even if they were expired. The DHS amended this rule to preclude the use of any expired documents on the Form I-9 in order to ensure that documents used to establish identity and employment authorization are reliable and accurate, as expired documents are prone to fraudulent use.

“Citizen” and “Noncitizen National” Categories Are Separated: In the employee attestation portion of the new Form I-9, “citizen of the United States” and “noncitizen national of the United States” are now two separate categories. While these had previously been combined into one category, the DHS separated them in order to eliminate some of the difficulty that arises when prosecuting those who make false claims of U.S. citizenship.

Addition of Documents to List A: A number of documents were added to List A, and, are therefore, acceptable to establish both identity and employment authorization, including the U.S. Passport Card and passports from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Additionally, machine-readable immigrant visas that contain a temporary I-551 printed notation also have been added to List A.

Deletion of Documents from List A: The Temporary Resident Card (Form I-688) and Employment Authorization Cards (Forms I-688A and I-688B) are no longer issued and any that previously were issued have since expired. Therefore, these documents were removed from List A. Forms I-766, which now are issued to those formerly receiving Forms I-688, I-688A, or I-688B, remain on List A.

* The new Form I-9 is not available yet, but should be by January 31, 2009 at http://www.uscis.gov/i-9, or it may be ordered by calling 1-800-870-3676. For more information, please contact a member of the KMK Labor & Employment Group.

Cole D. Bond
513.579.6558
cbond@kmklaw.com 

Mark J. Chumley
513.579.6563
mchumley@kmklaw.com 

Caroline M. DiMauro
513.639.3865
cdimauro@kmklaw.com 

Paul D. Dorger
513.579.6940
pdorger@kmklaw.com 

Jamie M. Goetz-Anderson
513.639.3881
jgoetzanderson@kmklaw.com 

Robert W. Maxwell II
513.579.6594
rmaxwell@kmklaw.com 

Nothing in this alert is intended to be legal advice.  Please consult with counsel of your choice with regards to any specific questions you may have.

ADVERTISING MATERIAL.

©2009 Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL.  All Rights Reserved.