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	EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE: Employers Must Immediately Begin Using New Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 Employment/Labor  By Teresa R. Tracy With little fanfare, on November 7, 2007, the federal government released a new Employment Verification Eligibility Form I-9 and updated Handbook for Employers. The new form is the only valid form and should be used immediately by employers for their new hires and employees who need re- verification, because previous versions are no longer valid. The continued use of the old versions of the form exposes an employer to potential fines and penalties. Employers do not need to - and should not - complete the new form for existing employees unless necessary due to reverification requirements. Recognizing that employers should be given a period of time to transition to the new form, a notice will be published in the Federal Register announcing that penalties will not be sought against an employer for use of the previous form during a 30-day transition period that begins on the date of the publication. However, once that 30-day period has expired, the failure to use the new form will subject the employer to all applicable penalties. The new form contains the revision date in the lower right corner of the form and states "(Rev. 06/05/07)N". The new handbook bears the form number and revision date of M-274 (Rev. 11/01/2007) N. Social Security Number The instructions to Section 1 of the I-9 Form now state that the employee does not have to provide a Social Security number in Section 1 of the form, unless the employer participates in E-Verify. Changes to List A Documents The revised form reduces the number of documents that employers can accept for newly-hired employees. Thus, employers may no longer accept documents which have been removed from the list. The following documents have been eliminated from the list of documents that satisfy List A (documents that establish both identity and eligibility to work): Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561); Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570); Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151); Unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-137); and Unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-157). The following form was added to the List A documents: Unexpired Employment Authorization Document (I-766) All Employment Authorization Documents with photographs have been consolidated as on item on List A, namely: I-688, I-688A, I-688B, I-766 Thus, the revised List A now consists of the following documents: - U.S. Passport (whether expired or unexpired) - Permanent Resident Card (I-551) - Unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp - Unexpired Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph - Unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) for nonimmigrant aliens authorized to work for a specific employer Electronic Retention Employers may now sign and retain the form electronically. Spanish Version A Spanish version of the form is available. However, it can only be filled out by employers and employees in Puerto Rico. In other locations, the Spanish form may be printed for reference, but only the English version may be completed in order to meet employment eligibility verification requirements. Employees may, of course, use or request a translator/prepared to assist them in completing the form. Getting a Copy of the New Form and Handbook The new form and handbook are available from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website at http://www.uscis.gov/i-9. The new form and handbook can also be obtained by calling the toll-free numbers for the USCIS at 1-800-870-3676. ******** For more information on the Alert or any other employment-related topic, please contact Teresa R. Tracy at (310) 821-9000, x717 or the attorney with whom you regularly work. This Alert is published as a service to our clients and friends. It is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute advertising, solicitation or legal advice. ©2007 Berger Kahn, A Law Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Back
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