Newly-Released I-9 Form Will Be Mandatory Come September

On July 17, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new version of Form I-9, the form used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired to work in the U.S. Employers may use either the revised form or the old version of the form, dated November 14, 2016, until September 17, 2017. Beginning September 18, 2017, employers must use this latest version of the form.

The revisions reflect three key changes: (1) the addition of the Department of State Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Form FS-240, to the "List C" listing of acceptable documents that establish employment authorization, and to the form instructions; (2) the form instructions have been updated to remove the phrase "the end of" when describing the day on which Section 1 of Form I-9 must be completed by the employee (i.e., the instructions will now state that Section 1 of the I-9 form must be completed no later than the employee's first day of employment);