OMB Approves Revisions to New Form I-9

Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the latest revisions to the current version of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification which expired on March 31, 2016 to clear the way for a new Form I-9 to be released to the public, according to an OMB Notice of Action dated August 25, 2016.

The OMB Notice sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicates the new Form I-9 will have an expiration date of August 31, 2019. The USCIS – the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States – will update the I-9 system.

The Notice reads: USCIS will, within 90 days, update the I-9 system in order to reflect the new instruments. USCIS will indicate at the bottom of the new form a revision date no later than 90 days from this approval. USCIS may accept the prior version of these instruments for 150 days while technical updates are made.

Since the OMB also indicated that the USCIS may accept the current expired version of the Form I-9 for another 150 days after this notice, that date should be approximately January 21, 2017. The complete OMB Notice is available at www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadNOA?requestID=273139.

As reported earlier by ESR News, the USCIS published a notice in the Federal Register on March 28, 2016 inviting public comment on proposed changes to the current Form I-9. The USCIS also told employers to continue to use the current Form I-9 until the new version is released. The exact date is as yet undecided.

A list of some of the proposed revisions for the new Form I-9 – which include drop-down lists and calendars as well as embedded instructions for completing each field – is available at www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/2016/03/31/uscis-tells-employers-to-continue-to-use-current-form-i-9-until-new-version-released/.

UPDATE 9/12/16: According to the USCIS I-9 Central website,  the USCIS must publish a revised Form I-9 by November 22, 2016. Employers may continue using the current version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013 N until January 21, 2017. After that date, all previous versions of Form I-9 will be invalid.

ESR Helps Employers with Form I-9 Compliance

Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a global background check firm – is also a Designated E-Verify Employer Agent that helps employers with Form I-9 and E-Verify compliance to ensure that their employees are legally eligible to eligible to work in the United States. For more information about ESR, visit www.esrcheck.com.

NOTE: Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) does not provide or offer legal services or legal advice of any kind or nature. Any information on this website is for educational purposes only.

© 2016 Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – Making copies or using of any part of the ESR News Blog or ESR website for any purpose other than your own personal use is prohibited unless written authorization is first obtained from ESR.