Trump Administration Issues New Form I-9

On July 17, 2017, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised Form I-9 that employers will be required to use beginning September 18, 2017. The new form may be used immediately. Employers may continue to use the previous Form I-9 (Revision Date of 11/14/2016) through September 17, 2017. Changes include revisions to the Instructions and the List of Acceptable Documents, and are outlined below. Employers must continue to follow existing storage and retention rules for all previously completed Form I-9.

Changes to the Form I-9 instructions:

• Changed name of the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to its new name, Immigrant and Employee Rights Section; and
• Removed “the end of” from the phrase “the first day of employment.”

Changes to the List of Acceptable Documents on Form I-9:

• Addition of the Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) to List C;
• Combination of all the certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS-1350, and Form FS-240) into selection C #2 in List C; and
• Renumbered all List C documents except the Social Security card. For example, the employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security on List C changed from List C #8 to List C #7.

The changes have been included in the revised Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274).