Form I-9 Temporary Flexibility Ends July 31, 2023

On May 6, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the end of the temporary flexibilities that allowed, in some cases, remote verification of Form I-9. This change becomes effective July 31, 2023.

As part of this announcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) advised that employers must complete in-person physical document inspections for employees whose documents were inspected remotely during the temporary flexibilities. The deadline for completing this process is August 30, 2023.

The announcement gives employers additional time to complete in-person physical inspection of identity and employment authorization documents and annotate the Form I-9 for this population.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has provided guidance on how the I-9 Forms should be notated and updated. It provides examples of updated I-9s for several scenarios, including when the original person completing the in-person reverification differs from the person who conducted the remote completion of Section 2. In cases where the employer is unable to physically reverify the documents, immigration law allows employers to designate an authorized representative who may complete the process on behalf of the organization.

Depending on the number of remote I-9 Forms you need to reverify, now may be the time to start the process.

Revised Form I-9 Update

The DHS has been considering updates to Form I-9 and a change to the process that would allow some form of remote completion. The most recent announcement indicates that later in 2023, they anticipate issuing a final rule on remote procedures and will release an updated form at that time.