New Form I‑9 Now Includes Alternative Procedure for E‑Verify Employers to Remotely Examine Employee Documents

The new version of Form I‑9, Employment Eligibility Verification is now available for use. This version contains changes to the form and instructions, including shortening the Form I‑9 to one page and reducing the instructions to eight pages.

What Form I‑9 versions may be used:

• Employers may begin using the new Form I‑9 starting Aug. 1, 2023.

• The Form I‑9 dated "10/19/2019” may continue to be used through Oct. 31, 2023. The version date can be found at the lower left corner of the form.

• Beginning Nov. 1, 2023, only the new Form I‑9 dated "08/01/23” may be used.

• A revised Spanish Form I‑9 dated “08/01/23” is available for use in Puerto Rico only.

A summary of changes to the Form I‑9 and instructions is listed below:

Overview of Form I-9 changes:

• Reduced Sections 1 and 2 to a single sheet. No previous fields were removed. Multiple fields were merged into fewer fields when possible, such as in the employer certification.

• Moved the Section 1 Preparer/Translator Certification area to a separate Supplement A that employers can use when necessary. This supplement provides three areas for current and future preparers and translators to complete as needed. Employers may attach additional supplements as needed.

• Moved Section 3 Reverification and Rehire to a standalone Supplement B that employers can use as needed for rehire or reverification. This supplement provides four areas for current and subsequent reverifications. Employers may attach additional supplements as needed.

• Removed use of “alien authorized to work” in Section 1 and replaced it with “noncitizen authorized to work” and clarified the difference between “noncitizen national” and “noncitizen authorized to work.”

• Ensured the form can be filled out on tablets and mobile devices by downloading onto the device and opening in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader app.

• Removed certain features to ensure the form can be downloaded easily. This also removes the requirement to enter N/A in certain fields.

• Improved guidance to the Lists of Acceptable Documents to include some acceptable receipts, guidance, and links to information on automatic extensions of employment authorization documentation.

• Added a checkbox for E-Verify employers to indicate when they have remotely examined Form I-9 documents.

Overview of Form I-9 Instructions changes:   

• Reduced length from 15 pages to 8 pages.

• Added definitions of key actors in the Form I-9 process.

• Streamlined the steps each actor takes to complete their section of the form.

• Added instructions for the new checkbox to indicate when Form I-9 documents were remotely examined.

• Removed the abbreviations charts and relocated them to the M-274.

Also beginning August 1, 2023, employers may remotely examine employees’ Form I‑9 documents provided they are enrolled in E-Verify. The alternative procedure is detailed in a notice in the Federal Register published on July 25, 2023.

Find out how to enroll in E‑Verify on the Enrolling in E‑Verify page. More information on the alternative procedure for remote examination of documents as well as document retention requirements is available on the Remote Examination page.