This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh, Fredrikson Immigration Department Chair, is a member.
As of January 31, 2020, employers should begin using a new version of the Form I-9 (version 10/21/2019, expires 10/31/2022). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) informs employers of a Federal Register notice that the old form will become obsolete on April 30, 2020. Employers may use the old form until that date.
Changes to the Form I-9 include:
- Addition of Eswatini and North Macedonia to the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the foreign passport issuing authority field in Section 2 per those countries' recent name changes. These changes are only visible when completing the fillable Form I-9 on a computer.
- Clarification of who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer
- Updating of USCIS website addresses
- Clarification of acceptable documents
- Updating the process for requesting the paper Form I-9
- Updating the DHS Privacy Notice
