Starting today, all employers are required to use a new Form I-9. This version is the third variant of the same form in less than a year, updated twice in the past nine months. In fact, it was only last November that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that employers had until January 22 of this year to start using the now obsolete Form I-9, marked 11/14/2016.

Then this July, USCIS announced that employers must start using yet another new version of the Form I-9 starting September 18. The government also released the newest version of the document mid-July, encouraging employers to start using the form immediately before the two-month grace period ended. The new I-9 form is dated 07/17/17 in the lower left corner with an expiration date of 8/31/2019, replacing the 11/14/2016 version.

The changes made to the Form I-9 are very subtle and are set forth in the newly revised Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9 (M-274). These changes include:

Revisions to the Form I-9 instructions:

• Changing references to the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices to its new name Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.
• Changing the instructions on Section 2 to “Employers or their authorized representative must complete and sign Section 2 within 3 business days of the employee’s first day of employment.”

Revisions related to the List of Acceptable Documents:

• The Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240) was added as a List C document.
• The certifications of report of birth issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545, Form DS-1350, and Form FS-240) have been combined.
• The List C documents have been renumbered.

It may seem a hassle to make sure you’re using the proper version of a thrice revised form, but the government has given employers a compelling reason to double check the date in the bottom left corner: fines.

Last August, the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Labor issued new, higher penalties for mistakes or omissions on the Form I-9. The new rules raise paperwork violations related to I-9 verification from a maximum of $1,100 to $2,156 and the minimum penalty per violation from $110 to $216.

Fortunately, employers are not required to use the new Form I-9 on existing employees—one of the most common questions asked after the release of a new version of the form—so any employees hired before September 18 will be compliant under the 11/14/2016 version of the document.

The biggest change employers will notice is the decrease in the time for new employees to fill out Form I-9. The previous version of the form only required the employee’s portion to be filled out by the end of the first day of work. The new version, though it does not specify a particular time of day, requires the form be filled out on the first day of work. This means that employers should  have the employee complete the form on the first day of work before the employee does any work for the employer.  This will prevent employees working the entire day only for the employer to discover at the end of the day that the employee did not have the appropriate documentation to satisfy the requirements of the I-9 and was not eligible to work. For this reason, it’s wise to err on the side of caution and request all employees fill out Form I-9 before they start work. As always, if you have any questions about the updates to the I-9 document and how to implement the changes, you are welcome to call one of our highly-trained Payroll professionals at 770.339.0000, option 1. or email your Client Services representative at clientservices@hr-strategies.com.