How Does an I-9 Form Work?
Form I-9 is a requirement under the the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The purpose of the law was to remove employment opportunities as an incentive for illegal immigration. But rather than having a government agency review every job applicant in the nation, an impossible and undesirable task, the law put the responsibility on employers themselves. Every employee in the United States, even U.S. citizens, must fill out a Form I-9 for purposes of employment eligibility verification, and his employer must keep it on record. The employer can be required to produce the form upon request by U.S. government officials.
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Employee Requirements
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To verify employment eligibility, a potential employee must be able to produce at least two documents. These can be selected from several options broken into three lists. An employee must produce either one document from List A, or one each from Lists B and C. The first list includes federally issued or controlled documents, such as a U.S. passport, Permanent Resident Card ("green card"), or a foreign passport with the appropriate U.S. Government stamp (I-551). List B consists of state or local IDs, such as driver's license, voter registration or school ID. The documents in List C include birth certificates, a Social Security card and U.S. citizenship card.
Employer Obligations
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An employer has the obligation to review the documents presented with Form I-9 and reasonably assess their authenticity. A Handbook for Employers (M-274) is available that includes pictures of all these documents. There is no filing fee associated with Form I-9 because it is not filed. Instead, the employer must retain the original form completed by the employee for the duration of his employment plus one year. Even if the employee works for less than two years, the employer must keep the form for at least three years. It's also the duty of the employer to use the most current form at the time it is completed by the employee, as older versions are not acceptable.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit United States Department of Homeland Security
