New I-9 Form Must Be Used Starting April 3, 2009

By way of background, on December 12, 2008, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it submitted to the Federal Register an interim final rule intended to streamline the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process and require use of a new I-9 form. The new I-9 form was originally scheduled to be required as of Monday, February 2, 2009.

On January 30, 2009, USCIS published a notice stating that the effective date was being delayed until April 3, 2009 and the public comment period has been reopened until March 4, 2009. At a recent conference in Washington DC, officials of USCIS indicated that they anticipated no further delays in the implementation of the new I-9 form. USCIS has published a set of Q & As which can be viewed by clicking here.

In anticipation of this development, USCIS has just released an updated I-9 Handbook for Employers with an April 3, 2009 revision date. The Handbook contains instructions on completing the new I-9 as well as a more complete set of sample documents commonly presented by foreign nationals at the time of hire. A copy of the Handbook can be viewed by clicking here.

The new I-9 form can be viewed and downloaded by clicking here. It should not be used for new hires prior to Friday, April 3. Since this form has an expiration date of June 30, 2009, USCIS will have to publish another version of the form again in the near future.