*By Helena Oroz
On March 28, 2013, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised Form I-9. This revised form includes clearer and more detailed instructions for completion, more space to fill in information, and new fields for an employee’s email address, telephone number, and foreign passport information (if applicable).
As of today, May 7, 2013, USCIS will no longer accept previous versions of Form I-9, and employers must use the revised Form I-9. The revision date of the new Form I-9 is printed in the lower left corner of the form. Employers should immediately verify that they are in fact using the correct Form I-9 with a revision date of March 28, 2013, for all new employees. Employers need not complete a new Form I-9 for existing employees if a properly-completed Form I-9 is already on file for them.
The revised forms are available online at www.uscis.gov/i-9. Employers should note that, while USCIS’s website contains forms in both English and Spanish, Spanish-speaking employers and employees may only use the Spanish version for reference. They will still need to complete and retain the English version of the form.
*Helena Oroz regularly counsels employers on employment law compliance, including Form I-9 compliance, auditing, and best practices. For more information about recent changes to the Form I-9 or related questions, please contact Helena (hot@zrlaw.com) at 216.696.4441.
