Did you know that more than 4 million people work remotely half the time in the U.S.? You are right if you have not jumped on the bandwagon of hiring remote workers. We have put together this guide to share the ins and outs of I-9s for remote employees.
Read on to learn more.
What Is an I-9 Form?
It is important not to get this form mixed up with other forms. The I-9 form verifies a new employee’s identity and work authorization to be employed in the United States. In the U.S., all employers or an employer’s authorized representative must complete an I-9 form for each person they hire.
Completing the I-9 Form
The employee also has to complete the I-9 form on their end. They are responsible for filling out Section 1 and presenting the appropriate documents to confirm their identity. The employers have to evaluate if the submitted documents are genuine.
If they find the documents real, the employer is responsible for filling out Section 2 of the form. The employer has three business days to complete this section.
Before the pandemic, employers had to fill out section 2 with the employee present physically. An employer was not allowed to examine the documents via a fax machine, webcam, or email.
Because of COVID-19 circumstances, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have allowed employers to remotely inspect the document or documents. It was set to expire on April 30, 2022, but it was extended until October 31, 2022.
The law states that if an employee is hired after April 1, 2021, and only works remotely due to COVID-19-related precautions, then the employer is temporarily exempt from physically verifying I-9 documents. You can find out more information here about I-9 remote verification.
What About When Normal Operations Resume?
After normal operations resume, every employee verified remotely has three business days to report to their employer. During this time, the employer will physically inspect the documents originally presented when the I-9 form was provided remotely.
At this time, the employer has to add the words “documents physically examined” along with the date they were inspected to Section 2 of the I-9 form.
Keep in mind that even though the remote employment verification was extended until October 31, 2022, it is encouraged to commence verifying the documents physically at the employer’s discretion. DHS’s temporarily relaxed rules are for employees hired on or after March 20, 2020, and those that presented their documents remotely.
It is a good idea to monitor ICE and DHS’s websites for any new announcements about normal operations resuming or additional extensions.
Create a Policy
If you don’t have a policy, creating a policy is advised to designate a specific person to verify the documents. The person designated as the verifier must have the proper training to verify documents. They need to know what to look for when doing their inspections.
The authorized verifier has to physically examine one document from List A or a document from List B along with a document from List C.
List A Documents
The documents in this list establish the person’s identity and employment eligibility. You only need one of these documents to confirm an employee on Section 2 of the I-9 form. The documents to choose from include:
- U.S. Passport Card or U.S. Passport
- (Form I-551) Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card
- (Form I-766) Employment Authorization Document Card
- Foreign passport with Form I-94 or Form I-94A with Arrival-Departure Record and containing an endorsement to work
- Passport from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with Form I-94 or Form I-94A
- A foreign passport containing a Form I-551 stamp or Form I-551 printed notation
List B Documents
The documents on this list will only establish a person’s identity. It is why you need one of these documents along with one from List C:
- Identification Card or a Driver’s License. If an Identification Card is presented, it has to be issued by an outlying territory of the U.S. or by a U.S. state. The employee’s name, address, DOB, gender, eye color, and height must be contained. Acceptable IDs include:
- School ID
- Military ID
- Voter registration card
- U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Card
- Native American tribal document
- Canadian driver’s license
- For minors under the age of 18 that can’t present any of the identifications above, the following are acceptable:
- School record or report card
- Clinic, doctor, or hospital record
- Daycare or nursery school record
List C Documents
The documents on this list will establish the employee’s employment eligibility. It has to be presented along with one document from List B:
- Unrestricted U.S. Social Security account number card
- (Form FS-240) Consular Report of Birth Abroad
- (Form FS-545) Certification of Birth Abroad issued by the U.S. Department of State
- (Form DS-1350) Certification of Report of Birth issued by the U.S. Department of State
- Original or certified copy of a birth certificate issued by a state, county, municipal authority, or outlying territory of the United States bearing an official seal
- Native American tribal document
- (Form I-197) U.S. Citizen ID Card
- (Form I-179) Identification Card for the use of Resident Citizen in the United States
- Employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
What If an Expired Document Is Presented?
If the employee presents an expired document, they might be able to present an official receipt if they haven’t received their document or replacement document at the time of verification.
An employee has to present not only an original and valid document, but they have to be unexpired. The USCIS website has a list of acceptable receipts to ensure you’re in compliance as the employer.
Preventing Discrimination
The Immigration and Nationality Act does not allow an employer to discriminate against an employee during the verification process. An employee can’t be determined based on their nation of origin, their citizenship, or their immigration status.
An employer can’t ask to see any employment authorization documents before the job offer is accepted. They can’t refuse an acceptable receipt of an authorized document, and they can’t request a specific document from the employee.
Last but not least, an employer can’t refuse to hire individuals if their employment authorization is set to expire in the near future. Employees are protected if they experience discrimination, and an employer is not allowed to retaliate if a file is charged against them.
Be sure to stay far away from discriminating, even by accident, to avoid finding your business in legal trouble. It can include fines, court orders, criminal penalties, or debarment.
Proof of Employment Eligibility Is a Must
No one is exempt from providing a document from List C to prove they are eligible to work in the United States. Suppose an employee is hired but fails to provide proof of their employment eligibility within three days of starting their employment as the employer. In that case, you are allowed by law to fire them because they did not submit the required paperwork.
Remote Completion Centers
Employers can use innovative electronic I-9 systems to help verify remote employees. There is a network of completion centers throughout the United States where newly hired remote workers can log in to the system and complete section 1 in the comfort of their homes.
Once they complete this section, they can schedule an appointment at a physical location near their home location with trained personnel in I-9 compliance. The biggest pro about this is that the employees will be physically verified, so you won’t have to do it again until they have a document on file expired.
Make sure you know which states might not allow notaries to complete the I-9 form. States sometimes have different requirements when an assigned person completes the I-9. For example, in California, an I-9 form can only be achieved by a person bonded as an immigration consultant.
If you have a remote employee who doesn’t live near a center, you can choose an individual familiar with the I-9 form. Get in touch with local librarians, accountants in their area, HR professionals, local attorneys, notary agents, or state workforce agency staff members.
Reviewing Completed I-9 Forms
An employer is responsible for any omissions or mistakes made on an I-9 form, no matter who you assign as the authorized representative. It is why you want to make sure that you triple-check all remote I-9 forms submitted. Look to make sure they do not have any errors that can lead to legal troubles for you in the future.
Common mistakes include missing information, wrong documents accepted from the provided lists, and failure to keep photocopies. The best way to avoid mistakes is to have a review system where you or someone validates everything in sections 1 and 2 along with the provided documents.
There are also electronic I-9 systems where you can review the completed form alongside the scanned documents. It allows you to compare the name, dates, numbers, etc. You can mark the form as valid once you review everything side by side and remove it from your to-do list.
Ongoing Responsibilities for an Employer
The USCIS has specific rules in regard to retaining, storing, and updating I-9 forms to stay compliant at all times. When it comes to retaining, the employer must retain a valid I-9 form for three years or one year after their employment has terminated (whichever comes later). The only part of the form that must be kept contains the employee and employer data.
As far as storing the form, it can be stored on microfiche, paper, microfilm, or electronically. If the Department of Labor, Homeland Security, or the Department of Justice requests the I-9 form, a business has three days to make the form available to the requesting agency.
The employer is responsible for keeping track of documents’ expiration dates. When the documents expire, the employee must be re-verified and noted in Section 3 of the I-9 form no later than the expiration date. During re-verification, the employer has to date and initial the corrections made to the updated form.
Feeling Like a Pro on I-9s for Remote Employees?
Now that you have read our guide to I-9s for remote employees, you can avoid costly mistakes with hiring remote workers. There is no reason to feel stuck just because you are hiring a new employee that lives thousands or hundreds of miles away.
For employers considering sticking to remote employees, it is wise to look for national I-9 centers in the locations where you are considering hiring remote workers. It will make it much easier to stay in compliance and give you peace of mind that the I-9 is being filled out correctly and the correct documents are being submitted and inspected.
If our blog post comes in handy, please browse the rest of our business section to stay up to date on our latest business tips and tricks.
