U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the unit within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees the employment eligibility verification process, has announced its intent to issue a new “I-9” employment eligibility verification form.
According to USCIS, the proposed revisions to the I-9 are intended to reduce technical errors and provide assistance to users in completing the form electronically. The actual substance of the form would not be changed. Rather, the agency is proposing changes to the form’s layout, and the accompanying instructions would increase from six pages to fifteen pages.
USCIS indicates that the new form was developed based largely on feedback the agency has received from stakeholders requesting the development of an I-9 that helps mitigate or prevent employer and employee error when completing the form electronically.
As required by the federal Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the revised I-9 was announced in a Federal Register notice published on November 24, 2015, and USCIS is asking for public comments on the proposed changes. USCIS may make additional revisions before asking for final clearance to publish the new form.
A copy of USCIS’ November 24, 2015 Federal Register notice, the proposed new form and instructions, and USCIS-prepared comparative tables of the proposed changes to the existing are available online here.