New Form I-9 for Employee Verification Opens Door to Audits and Fines

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new Form I-9 last month, and employers should begin using the new form immediately to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all new employees. The updated form is required as of May 7, 2013.

Get the new Form I-9 and Handbook here.

The new I-9 may seem straightforward, but employers can be fined $110 per missing item and up to $1,100 per incorrect form, even if the employee is legally authorized to work in the US. And audits of employers’ I-9 programs are increasing.

According to a National Law Review article, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted over 7,500 audits nationally since 2009 and imposed over $80 million in fines. Fines for non-compliant Form I-9 programs rose from $1 million in 2009 to $13 million in 2012. In an audit, ICE officers will review payroll records, examine Form I-9s, and match Social Security numbers, among other things.

Common compliance mistakes include failure to verify employment eligibility within three days of hire, failure to re-verify employees with certain kinds of citizenship documents and using expired documents to verify employment.

To help its members make sure that their recordkeeping is in compliance, WLA is hosting I-9 seminars with attorney Davis Bae of WLA allied member Jackson Lewis, LLP on June 10 in Seattle and July 15 in Spokane. Learn more here.