The COVID-19 pandemic has made it impractical or even impossible for some employers to comply with a number of immigration-related compliance obligations. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has relaxed many of its rules, if only temporarily, thereby allowing employers to effectively maintain a remote workforce that is compliant with U.S. immigration law.
The pandemic has also caused U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency within DHS that administers the Form I-9 employment eligibility process, to fall behind on issuing Employment Authorization Documents (Form I-766), or “EAD cards,” to aliens whose applications for employment authorization have been approved. Although an unexpired EAD is an acceptable I-9 “List A” document establishing both identity and work authorization, the notice from USCIS approving employment authorization – the Form I-797 “Notice of Action” – is not an acceptable I-9 document.
Now, in response to a legal challenge to the delay by USCIS in issuing EAD cards, the agency announced recently that it will temporarily allow employers to use a Form I-797 “Notice of Action” as an acceptable I-9 “List C” document that establishes employment authorization. The individual will still be required to provide a List B document establishing identity.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.