Big Change in Employment Eligibility Verification

By: Joel Pfeffer, Esquire jp@muslaw.com

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has just made a change that affects every employer in western Pennsylvania and across the country.

In early November, the immigration service changed the list of documents that it will allow employers to accept as proof of legal residency for form I-9, which verifies employment eligibility. The change is noted on a brand new I-9 form. The new regulation removes five documents that were previously on the list as okay to accept as proof of identity and employment eligibility. The new form does add one document to the list of approved proofs of identity, the new form I-766, which is a card issued to aliens who are authorized to work temporarily in the United States. Other approved documents include an expired or unexpired U.S. passport and a permanent residence card, among others.

Every employer must have new employees fill our a I-9 form, and then keep it on file for three years after the employee starts or, if the employee leaves before three years is up, an additional year after employment ends. Failure to have completed I-9 forms on file can lead to stiff penalties.

The new form will become effective as soon as a notice is published in the Federal Register, but the immigration service wants employers to start using the new form and protocol right away.