What Is Form I-9? Employment Eligibility Verification Explained

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Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is the federal form U.S. employers use to confirm that each person they hire is who they say they are and is allowed to work in the United States. The new employee fills in the first part and shows original documents. The employer examines those documents, records them and keeps the form on file. The I-9 is not a tax form and is never sent to the IRS or to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency that issues it. It stays with the employer and must be produced if federal inspectors ask for it.

Why Form I-9 exists

The I-9 dates to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which made employers responsible for checking work eligibility. Every newly hired worker must show documents establishing identity and authorization to work, and the employer must attest under penalty of perjury that it reviewed them. USCIS revises the form from time to time, and employers must use the current edition.

Who is responsible for the I-9

Responsibility is split between the two parties:

• The employee completes Section 1, supplying personal information and attesting to citizenship or immigration status, and chooses which acceptable documents to present.
• The employer completes Section 2 by physically examining the documents, recording their details and signing to confirm they appear genuine and relate to the person presenting them.

The obligation applies to employees, not to independent contractors, who are hired under a different relationship. It also applies regardless of nationality. A U.S.-born citizen starting a new job completes the same form as a noncitizen with a work permit.

The form can be completed on paper or electronically. Either way, the employer keeps it. Federal agencies, namely the Department of Homeland Security (through Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice, may request the forms for inspection.

How the form is completed

Section 1: Employee information and attestation

The employee fills in:

• Full legal name and any other last names used
• Address, and optionally email and phone number
• Date of birth
• Social Security number (mandatory only in certain cases, such as when the employer uses E-Verify)
• Status: U.S. citizen, noncitizen national, lawful permanent resident, or noncitizen authorized to work, with the related document number and any expiration date of work authorization

The employee then signs and dates the section. This signature is a sworn attestation, so false statements carry legal consequences. Section 1 must be done by the first day of employment, though the employee may complete it any time after accepting a job offer.

Section 2: Employer review of documents

Within three business days of the employee’s first day of work, the employer must examine the original documents the employee presents, enter the document titles, issuing authorities, numbers and expiration dates, record the first day of employment, and sign. If the job lasts fewer than three business days, Section 2 must be finished by the end of the first day.

The employer judges whether each document reasonably appears genuine and relates to the employee. It does not have to be a document expert, but it cannot accept something that is obviously altered or belongs to someone else.

Supplement A: Preparer and translator certification

If someone helps the employee fill out Section 1, by translating or by writing the answers, that person completes Supplement A. A preparer or translator is optional; the employee may complete Section 1 alone.

Supplement B: Reverification and rehires

Supplement B is used when:

• An employee whose work authorization has an expiration date needs that authorization updated
• The employer rehires a former employee within three years of the date the original I-9 was completed
• An employee has a legal name change

In most other cases, an employee completes the I-9 only once for a given employer. Promotions, raises and transfers within the same company do not require a new form.

Acceptable I-9 documents

The employee presents either one document from List A, which proves both identity and work authorization, or one document from List B (identity) and one from List C (work authorization). Common examples follow; the official list in the form’s instructions is controlling.

Two rules shape how documents are handled. First, the employee chooses which acceptable documents to show. An employer that demands a specific document, such as insisting on a green card from a permanent resident who offered a driver’s license and Social Security card, risks a discrimination claim. Second, documents must generally be original and unexpired. A photocopy does not satisfy Section 2, although many employers choose to keep copies alongside the form.

Workers under 18

A minor who cannot present a List B document may use a school record or report card, a clinic, doctor or hospital record, or a day-care or nursery school record to establish identity. The List C requirement for work authorization still applies.

Deadlines and how long to keep the form

Hypothetical: an employee hired on March 1, 2020 who leaves on June 30, 2021 triggers two dates: three years after hire (March 1, 2023) and one year after separation (June 30, 2022). The later date, March 1, 2023, is when the employer may discard the form. Had the employee stayed until June 30, 2025, the one-year date (June 30, 2026) would control. Forms for current employees must be kept for as long as they work there.

Penalties for non-compliance

Federal authorities can fine employers that:

• Knowingly hire, or continue to employ, workers who are not authorized to work in the U.S.
• Fail to complete or keep Form I-9 for employees
• Take part in document fraud
• Cannot produce forms when an inspection is requested

Fines rise for repeat violations, and the most serious cases (such as a pattern of knowingly hiring unauthorized workers) can lead to criminal charges.

Not every error is punished immediately. For technical or procedural violations, the employer is notified and given 10 business days to correct the problem. Examples include:

• The employee failing to date Section 1 when employment begins
• Omitting the rehire date in the rehire section
• Leaving out the employer’s business name, address or the signer’s title

An employer that can show it made a good-faith effort to comply has a rebuttable defense against penalties. Once it demonstrates good faith, the burden shifts to the government to show the employer did not act in good faith.

An example of an I-9 violation

In a case decided in 2015, a temporary staffing company was fined $226,270 over the I-9s of 242 employees. It had signed the forms attesting, under penalty of perjury, that it had examined the workers’ documents, when its staff had looked only at photocopies, not the originals.

Form I-9 vs. E-Verify

Form I-9 is the document every employer must complete and keep. E-Verify is an online system run by the Department of Homeland Security that compares information from a completed I-9 against DHS and Social Security Administration records to confirm work eligibility.

For most private employers E-Verify is voluntary, though some states and federal contracts require it. An employer that uses E-Verify still has to complete, retain and store an I-9 for every new hire.

Anti-discrimination rules

Federal law bars employers from basing hiring, firing or recruiting decisions on national origin or on citizenship or immigration status, except where a law or government contract requires a particular status. That rule governs the timing of the form. An employer cannot use the I-9 to screen applicants before making an offer, because declining to hire someone over a suspicion about eligibility can itself be discrimination. The I-9 is completed only after a job offer has been made and accepted.

The same principle covers documents. Asking for more or different documents than the form requires, or rejecting valid documents because of how a person looks or sounds, can violate the law even if the employer believed it was being careful.

How the I-9 differs from W-4 and W-9

New hires usually fill out the I-9 alongside tax paperwork, which is why it is often grouped with tax forms. The purposes are different. The I-9 establishes who may legally work. Form W-4 tells the employer how much federal income tax to withhold from an employee’s pay, and the employer keeps it like the I-9. Form W-9 is used by independent contractors and other payees to give a taxpayer identification number, and contractors who complete a W-9 generally do not complete an I-9.

The Bottom Line

Any U.S. employer hiring workers, and every new hire, has a role in Form I-9, while independent contractors do not. Employers should complete it only after a job offer is accepted, examine original documents without demanding specific ones, and store each form for the full retention period. Using E-Verify does not remove the duty to complete and keep an I-9 for every new hire.