U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a revised version of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.  Starting September 18, 2017, employers will no longer be allowed to use prior editions of the I-9 form and must use the version that bears a 7/17/2017 revision date.

The new Form I-9 version is similar to the prior edition, changing only the name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section, and removing “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”

USCIS also revised the List C documents section, specifically related to the Consular Report of Birth Abroad and the Report of Birth issued by the Department of State.  The full List of Acceptable Documents can be accessed at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9.

Failure to use the new form revision may subject employers to fines and/or penalties in the event of an audit. However, employers might be able to mitigate these fines and penalties by completing a correct version of Form I-9, stapling it to the previously completed form, and offering a signed and dated explanation for the oversight.

The new Form I-9 can be retrieved from USCIS’ website at http://www.uscis.gov/I-9. We encourage employers who use electronic I-9 products to confirm the vendor’s I-9 form has been updated to the latest version.