Form I-9 Inspection Requirement Compliance As COVID-19 Remote Verification Flexibility Sunsets

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have announced that employers will have until August 30, 2023, to physically verify Form I-9 documentation that may have been reviewed remotely during the multiyear compliance flexibility. Starting in March 2020, certain employers were permitted to defer the physical presence requirement of I-9 documentation inspection. This allowed employers to electronically or remotely review I-9 documentation and postpone a physical inspection until normal operations resumed. Subsequent announcements from ICE permitted employers to continue to verify documentation remotely until the affected employees returned to the office on a regular, consistent, or predictable basis, or until the extension of the flexibilities ended—whichever was earlier.