Pennsylvania Labor and Employment Blog : Pennsylvania Labor and Employment Lawyer & Attorney : McNees Wallace & Nurick Law Firm : Human Resources, Workplace and Business Law : Harrisburg, Lancaster, Allentown, Lehigh

There is no delay. April 3, 2009 is the effective date for use of the revised I-9 Form according to the USCIS. The following resources are available for compliance with the revised form and more limited scope of acceptable documents:

Revised I-9 Form (English)

Revised I-9 Form (Spanish)*

List of Documents Acceptable for Employment Verification

Questions and Answers

Handbook for Employers

*Note: The Spanish version of Form I-9, available below on this page, may be filled out by employers and employees in Puerto Rico ONLY. Spanish-speaking employers and employees in the 50 states and other U.S. territories may print this for their reference, but may only complete the form in English to meet employment eligibility verification requirements.

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Frankly, I was expecting a delay in the effective date of the Revised I-9 Form, so I have been procrastinating a reminder post. I am tired of checking the USCIS website for information. However, I am wary since there has been no report on the comments received during the 30-day re-opening of the comment period which ended March 4, 2009.

The Revised I-9 Form is effective April 3, 2009.  The USCIS has issued a Q&A on the Revised I-9 Form. There is also a Handbook for Employers on the Revised I-9 Form. The US Citizenship and Immigration Service ("USCIS") has revised the Form I-9 and acceptable documents issuing the following summary:

The interim final rule narrows the list of acceptable identity documents and further specifies that expired documents are not considered acceptable forms of identification. An expansive document list makes it more difficult for employers to verify valid and acceptable forms and single out false documents compromising the effectiveness and security of the Form I-9 process.

Employers must complete a Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the United States. The list of approved documents that employees can present to verify their identity and employment authorization is divided into three sections: List A documents verify identity and employment authorization, List B documents verify identity only, and List C documents verify employment authorization only.

The rule eliminates Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B (Temporary Resident Card and older versions of the Employment Authorization Card/Document) from List A. USCIS no longer issues these cards, and all that were in circulation have expired. The rule also adds to List A of the Form I-9 foreign passports containing specially-marked machine-readable visas and documentation for certain citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The rule makes other, technical changes to update the list of acceptable documents. The revised Form I-9 includes additional changes, such as revisions to the employee attestation section, and the addition of the new U.S. Passport Card to List A.

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On March 10, 2009, Representative George Miller introduced the Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 (H.R. 1409) The Bill has 222 cosponsors from the House of Representatives comprised of 435 members. The Bill has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. You can keep track of its progress through an RSS Feed.

H.R 1409 is identical to H.R. 800 which passed in the House of Representatives by roll call vote last year. Last year's vote totals were 241 Ayes, 185 Nays, 8 Present/Not Voting. Last year H.R. 800 failed a cloture motion, preventing consideration of the bill, in the Senate by roll call vote. The totals were 51 Ayes, 48 Nays, 1 Present/Not Voting. Obviously, the political composition of Congress has dramatically changed since last year's votes.

The Text of the Bill is relatively brief but its impact is great. The Bill has three sections, streamlining union certification, facilitating initial collective bargaining agreements, and strengthening enforcement. Read the Bill so you can discuss it intelligently. Observe that there is no effective date for the legislation included in the Bill once it is passed by Congress.  However, well before the time it is enacted, employers should already have implemented a responsive strategy.

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it has delayed by 60 days, until April 3, 2009, the implementation of an interim final rule entitled “Documents Acceptable for Employment Eligibility Verification”.  The Revised I-9 was to take effect on February 2, 2009. 

The delay will provide DHS with an opportunity for further consideration of the rule and also allows the public additional time to submit comments. A notice announcing the delay was transmitted today to the Federal Register.  In addition, USCIS has reopened the public comment period for 30 days, until March 4, 2009.

Employers must complete a Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the United States, but should not use the Revised Form.  The interim final rule will amend regulations governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents employees may present to their employers for completion of the Form I-9.  Under the interim rule, employers will no longer be able to accept expired documents to verify employment authorization on the Form I-9.

UPDATE:  There are no further delays in use of the revised I-9 Form and further compliance resources have been issued by the USCIS (click here for more information).

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