Effective Immediately: Employers Must Use Revised I-9 Employment Verification Form

As we previously reported, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently approved a revised I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification Form. Effective May 7, 2013, all U.S. employers must complete and maintain the revised form in their records to verify the identity and authorization of each new employee to work in the U.S. Once a new hire and the employer have completed the I-9, the employer must retain a copy of the I-9 form for three years from the date of hire, or one year from the date of termination, whichever is longer. (For example, an employer that terminates an employee after five years of employment must maintain that employee’s I-9 form for one year from the date of termination.) Employers that fail to complete the I-9 form or do not properly retain the I-9 form are subject to monetary penalties up to $1,100 per I-9, and criminal penalties may be imposed in certain cases. For more information on I-9 compliance, the e-verify program or other immigration law compliance issues, please contact Patrick W. McGovern at pmcgovern@genovaburns.com or Rebecca Fink at rfink@genovaburns.com in our Immigration Law Practice Group.