The federal government's current version of the Form I-9 (version 07/17/17 N), expires on August 31, 2019.
On March 1, 2019, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed extending the current version of the form and solicited comments from the general public. After only receiving 21 comments, the USCIS extended the comment deadline to July 5, 2019. The USCIS is reviewing comments it has received. Depending on the extensiveness of the comments, USCIS may:
· keep in place the existing Form I-9 past the August deadline,
· keep the form as is and update the expiration date or
· make changes based on the comments received.
Last month, the USCIS published a Notice in the Federal Register proposing an extension, without change, of Form I-9 before it expires on August 31, 2019. The final rule confirming the extension, without changes other than minor clarifications made to the form's instructions noted below, is expected to be announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) soon.
Three proposed minor clarifications of instructions for the revision:
· Employers may designate anyone to be an authorized representative to complete Section 2 of the form. The employer is still liable for any violations committed by the designated person.
· Writing "N/A," or not applicable, in the identity-document columns is no longer necessary. When entering document information in the List A column (or, alternatively, in the List B and List C columns), you will not need to enter "N/A" in the columns that are not used.
· The form's List C documents that establish employment authorization do not include a worker's Employment Authorization Document (EAD). The List C documents include a Social Security card and birth certificate, while the EAD (Form I-766) providing temporary employment authorization to work in the United States is a List A document.
Currently the USCIS has not filed an update for the form. Employers should continue to use Form I-9 revision number 07/17/17 N with an August 31, 2019 expiration date, until a decision is made.
The USCIS files updates for the form with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). You can review the status of the OMB’s approval of the forms at https://www.reginfo.gov.
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