The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) – the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States – recently published a notice in the Federal Register inviting public comment on proposed revisions to the ‘Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification’ that employers must complete for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the United States. The notice is available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-03-27/pdf/2012-7340.pdf and the proposed revisions are available at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=USCIS-2006-0068-0013.
The public comment period runs for 60 days, beginning March 27, 2012 and ending May 29, 2012. The public may comment by visiting http://www.regulations.gov before May 29, 2012 where they will find instructions on how to comment on the proposed revisions to the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, which include:
- More detailed instructions for completion of the form that consist of six pages instead of three pages.
- A revised layout of the proposed form that consists of two pages instead of one page.
- Greater clarity concerning the specific information required in each field including specific numbers that clearly illustrate the number of digits the required number should have.
- New data fields to collect information such as the employee’s email address and telephone number, as well as foreign passport number and country of issuance.
- An additional block of fields for entry of document numbers and expiration dates under List A.
- Easier facilitation of electronic completion and retention, although both the form and the rules will continue to permit manual completion and retention of the Form I-9.
- A proposed change with respect to the attestation the employer representative must make when signing the Form I-9: “I attest, under penalty of perjury, that (1) I have examined the document(s) presented by the above-named employee, (2) the above-listed document(s) appear to be genuine and to relate to the employee named, and (3) to the best of my knowledge the employee is authorized to work in the United States.”
- A proposed change to the List of Acceptable Documents with respect to the presentation of a Social Security Account Number card: “A card that includes one of the following restrictions, for example, is not acceptable: (1) NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT; (2) VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION; (3) VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION.”
- A referral to the Employer Review and Verification section of the form’s instructions for additional information regarding acceptable receipts.
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