USCIS Delays Changing I-9 Documents

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced it has delayed by 60 days, until April 3, 2009, the implementation of an interim final rule entitled “Documents Acceptable for Employment Eligibility Verification” published in the Federal Register on Dec. 17, 2008.  The rule streamlines the Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9) process.

Employers must complete a Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the United States.  The interim final rule will amend regulations governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents employees may present to their employers for completion of the Form I-9.  Under the interim rule, employers will no longer be able to accept expired documents to verify employment authorization on the Form I-9.