Revised Form I-9
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released a revised Form I-9, which is the form that all employers must complete for new hires to verify eligibility to work in the U.S. As of Nov. 7, 2007, the new form is the only version that is acceptable for use, although the USCIS says it will publish a notice granting employers a 30-day period to transition to using the new form. Employers should take note that the new I-9 Form has a revision date (in the lower right corner) of 06/05/07; previous versions are no longer valid. The agency has also updated its "Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9."
The key revision to the updated Form I-9 is the removal of five documents from List A, which previously could be presented by an employee to establish proof of both identity and employment eligibility. These documents were removed, says the USCIS, because they lack sufficient features to help deter counterfeiting, tampering, and fraud. The five documents that are no longer acceptable are:
Certificate of U.S. Citizenship, Form N-560 or N-570
Certificate of Naturalization, Form N-550 or N-570
Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form I-151
Unexpired Reentry Permit, Form I-327
Unexpired Refugee Travel Permit, Form I-571
In addition, the following document was added to List A of acceptable documents: Unexpired Employment Authorization Document, Form I-766.
The new form and instructions may be downloaded at this site, or type in the following URL: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-9.pdf