The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that starting on May 1st, 2022, employers can no longer accept expired list B documents for the purposes of completing the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process. This brings an end to the temporary policy the DHS began in 2020, which allowed these expired documents to be treated as valid and acceptable documents for I-9 purposes.

The Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, must be completed for all new hires regardless of citizenship or immigration status and proves that an individual is authorized to work in the United States. Employers are required to accept any valid documents which a new hire provides. These can include one document from List A or a combination of documents from List B and List C. Now with the ending of this flexibility by the DHS, expired List B documents may no longer be accepted by employers.

Steps for Employers to Take Now

For employers who completed a Form I-9 for an employee who remains employed, using a document from List B, which expired on or after March 1st, 2020, some steps need to be taken to update the Form I-9 by July 31st, 2022. These include:

Have the employee present an unexpired document to establish the employee’s identity. The employee could present a renewed or different List B document or alternatively present a List A document.

In Section 2 of the Form I-9, within the “additional information” field, the employer will enter the document’s title, issuing authority, number, and expiration date. The employer will finish by dating and initialing the change.

Notably, if the employee is no longer employed by the time this policy ends, then no action is needed. Additionally, if the document was automatically extended by the issuing authority, then the employer does not need to take any action because the document was not expired in actuality when it was presented.

As this and many other continuously shifting policies regarding the Form I-9 employment eligibility process have shown, the process can quickly become disorienting for employers and their HR personnel.

This can guide hiring personnel through every step of the process while helping them to keep up to date with the latest changes in the required documentation. It can also store documents securely and send reminders when action must be taken.

There’s a smarter way to verify your employment eligibility I-9 Compliance makes things easier on your end with automation. Start today.

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