Employers need to complete a Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identities and authorization to work in the United States. However, keeping track of all versions of the Form can be difficult. There have been multiple versions since the Form was first introduced in 1987 (view a list of all Form versions here).
There is only one currently valid Form version that should be used by employers – “Rev. 07/17/2017 N”. To check and make sure that the Form your company is using is up-to-date, look at the lower-left corner of any page of the Form you are currently using. If your revision code doesn’t read “Form I-9 07/17/2017 N”, you may want to consider updating your Form!
However, an eagle-eyed employer using Form Rev. 07/17/2017 N may notice that it says in its top-right corner that it “Expires 08/31/2019”. If the Form expired at the end of August, but it’s the only currently-valid Form available, what should employers do?
Fortunately, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (the agency tasked with maintaining Form I-9) has issued guidance for employers. According to the agency, “Until further notice, employers should continue using [Form Rev. 07/17/2017] even after the expiration date of Aug. 31 has passed.” The agency says it will provide updated information about the new version of the Form as it becomes available. (For the full text of the guidance, and other I-9 updates, click here).
For the most up-to-date I-9 Form and other information on it, Verified Credentials suggests that you explore the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ “I-9 Central”, which is available here.
Even though I-9 Central provides great updates for employers, making any changes to your employment forms and documents should always be done with the advice of your legal counsel to ensure that you stay compliant.