COVID-19 stay-at-home orders have created challenges for employees seeking to renew a driver’s license, a state ID card, or other Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, List B identity document, as there are some restrictions on online renewal services.

Given these challenges, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a temporary policy regarding expired List B identity documents used to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Beginning on May 1, identity documents found in List B set to expire on or after March 1, 2020, and not otherwise extended by the issuing authority, may be treated the same as if the employee presented a valid receipt for an acceptable document for Form I-9 purposes.

List B Documents that have not been extended by the issuing authority

Pursuant to the DHS temporary policy, employers should take the following action when an employee provides an acceptable expired List B document that has not been extended by the issuing authority:

• Record the document information in Section 2 under List B, as applicable; and,

• Enter the word “COVID-19” in the Additional Information Field.

For expired documents, the employee must present, within 90 days after DHS’s termination of this temporary policy, a valid unexpired document to replace the expired document presented when they were initially hired. According to DHS, the employee would ideally present the replacement of the actual expired document, but the employee also has the option of choosing a different List A or List B document or documents and record the new document information in the Additional Information Field.

Employers should complete the following in the Section 2 Additional Information Field when the employee later presents an unexpired document:

• Record the number and other required document information from the actual document presented;

• Initial and date the change.

List B Documents that have been extended by the issuing authority

If the issuing authority has extended the document expiration date due to COVID-19, and the employee’s List B identity document expired on or after March 1, 2020, the document is acceptable as a List B document for Form I-9 (not as a receipt) during the extension timeframe specified by the issuing authority.

Employers should take the following action when an employee presents an acceptable List B document that has been extended by the issuing authority:

• Enter the document’s expiration date in Section 2; and

• Enter “COVID-19 EXT” in the Additional Information Field.

Employers can confirm that their state has auto-extended the expiration date of the state IDs and driver’s licenses by checking the Motor Vehicle Administration or Department of Mort Vehicles’ website. Employers may choose to attach a copy of the webpage or other notice indicating that the issuing authority has extended the documents.

For extended documents, the employee is not required to later present a valid unexpired List B document.

Employers that participate in E-Verify should use the employee’s List B document number from Section 2 of the Form I-9 to create an E-Verify case within three days of the hire date.