I-9 Verification
WHAT IS THE I-9 FORM?
Federal law requires that every employer* who recruits, refers for a fee, or hires an individual for employment in the U.S. must complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Form I-9 will help you verify your employee’s identity and employment authorization.
On the form, the employer must examine the employment eligibility and identity document(s) an employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual and record the document information on the Form I-9.
DO I-9 FORMS REQUIRE NOTARIZATION?
No, there is nothing in the wording of the I-9 Form that requires a notarization. However, employers will ask the new remote employee to take the form to a Notary Public for verification of identity and completion. Employers may include an additional page for notary service information.
Many employers ask Notaries serving as their Authorized Representative to affix their notarial seal to the certification section of the Form I-9 which is unnecessary.
If we agree to serve as an employer’s Authorized Representative, our company is NOT serving as a Notary in any capacity. They are merely serving as an extension of the employer for the limited purpose of verifying the prospective employee’s documents per an explicit written agreement.
When one of our agents who might or might not be a Notary signs this form in the capacity of Authorized Representative for the verifying employer, they will indicate “Authorized Agent” in the Employer’s title section and not “Notary Public” which clears any doubts as to the capacity of the individual signing the document.
WHAT TYPES OF DOCUMENTATION ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR IDENTIFICATION?
An employee must present a document or combination of documents from List A (which shows both identity and employment authorization) or one document from List B (which shows identity) and one document from List C (which shows employment authorization) or an acceptable receipt of those documents within three business days of the date work for pay begins. The employee that presents a receipt must present the actual document when the receipt validity period ends, or when they receive the document, whichever comes first.
The list of acceptable documents can be found on the last page of the I-9 form.
DOCUMENTS UNDER “LIST A” ESTABLISH BOTH IDENTITY AND EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY, INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
All documents must be unexpired.
- U.S. passport or U.S. passport card
- Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (this is commonly called a Green Card.) See Section 6.1, Lawful Permanent Residents for when a Permanent Resident Card is considered unexpired past the “Card Expires” date.
- Foreign passport that contains a temporary I-551 stamp or temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa (MRIV)
- Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document (EAD) that contains a photograph. However, in certain circumstances, an EAD past its “Card Expires” date qualifies as an unexpired EAD. See Section 4.4, Automatic Extensions of Employment Authorization and/or Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) in Certain Circumstances, for more information.
- For nonimmigrant aliens authorized to work for a specific employer incident to status, which means they are authorized to be employed based on their nonimmigrant status, a foreign passport with Form I-94 bearing the same name as the passport and an endorsement of their nonimmigrant status, as long as the period of endorsement has not yet expired and the proposed employment is not in conflict with any restrictions or limitations identified on the form
- Passport from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with Form I-94 indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the FSM or RMI
DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE USED UNDER “LIST B” OF THE I-9 TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY INCLUDE:
All documents must be unexpired.
- Driver’s license or ID card issued by a state or outlying possession of the United States, provided it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, gender, height, eye color, and address
- ID card issued by federal, state, or local government agencies or entities, provided it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, gender, height, eye color, and address (This selection does not include the driver’s license or ID card issued by a state or outlying possession of the United States in Item 1 of this list.)
- School ID card with a photograph
- Voter’s registration card
- U.S. military card or draft record
- Military dependent’s ID card
- U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Card
- Native American tribal document
- Driver’s license issued by a Canadian government authority
For persons under age 18 who are unable to present a document listed above:
- School record or report card
- Clinic, doctor, or hospital record
- Day care or nursery school record
DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE USED UNDER “LIST C” OF THE I-9 TO ESTABLISH EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY INCLUDE:
All documents must be unexpired.
- A Social Security Account Number card, unless the card includes one of the following restrictions:
- NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT
- VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION
- VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION
- Certification of report of birth issued by the U.S. Department of State (Forms DS-1350, FS-545, FS-240)
- Original or certified copy of a birth certificate issued by a state, county, municipal authority or outlying territory of the United States bearing an official seal
- Native American tribal document
- Form I-197, U.S. Citizen Identification Card
- Form I-179, Identification Card for Use of Resident Citizen in the United States
- Employment authorization document issued by the Department of Homeland Security. For examples, please visit uscis.gov/i-9-central. (This does not include Form I-766, Employment Authorization Document, from List A.)