Federal Government Delays Implementation of New Form I-9 and E-Verify Mandate
Marisa G. Button
I-9
All employers in the United States are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of each individual they hire for employment, regardless of that person’s citizenship. As a part of this process, an employer must complete an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS) issued a final rule amending its regulatory requirements regarding the documents that an employer may accept from an employee when completing the Form I-9. The new Form I-9 was originally supposed to be implemented on February 2, 2009, and that date has been extended until April 4, 2009. USCIS extended the effective date to allow for further consideration of the final rule, and to allow for additional public comment.
The most substantial change in the proposed Form I-9 is that employers are prohibited from accepting expired documents to verify the identity and employment eligibility of employees. Additionally, certain documents have been added and removed from the list of acceptable documents, a new “non citizen national of the United States” category as been added to section 1 of the form, and other technical changes have been made. According to DHS, the proposed changes are intended to curb identity theft, fraud and use of counterfeit documents.
Employers should continue to use the current Form I-9 (Rev. 06/05/07) until April 4, 2009. The new Form I-9 (Rev 2/2/09) should only be used on or after April 4, 2009. Both forms may be accessed at the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov.
E-Verify
E-Verify is an internet based system used to verify employees eligibility to work in the United States. While use of the E-Verify system is not currently required for employers in Pennsylvania, all employers, including federal contractors, may enroll in E-Verify at any time. However, amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulations are posed to mandate all federal contractors with contracts in excess of $100,000, and subcontractors with projects greater then $3,000 to use E-Verify. The final rule regarding these amendments was slated to become effective on January 15, 2009, however, the United States Chamber of Commerce and additional co-plaintiffs filed suit against the federal government in December of 2008, challenging the E-verify mandate. As the result of an agreement between the parties of the ongoing lawsuit, the effective date of the final rule was pushed back to February, 20, 2009, and most recently has been pushed even further back until May 21, 2009. Federal contracts awarded and solicitations issued after May 21, 2009 will include a clause committing government contractors to use E-Verify. For information about how E-Verify works and federal contractor requirements under E-Verify, see www.uscis.gov .
