What’s New in Form I9: 2020 I-9 Compliance

In case you forgot, Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers are responsible for completing and maintaining Form I-9 for each individual they hire. This includes citizens and non-citizens. But you already knew this. What’s new in form I-9? Learn how to stay I-9 compliant in 2020.

What are the new changes?

As per the USCIS, the changes are as follows:

Form: Revised the Country of Issuance field in Section 1 and the Issuing Authority field (when selecting a foreign passport) in Section 2 to add Eswatini and Macedonia, North per those countries’ recent name changes. (Note: This change is only visible when completing the fillable Form I-9 on a computer.)

Instructions:

• Clarified who can act as an authorized representative on behalf of an employer
• Updated USCIS website addresses
• Provided clarifications on acceptable documents for Form I-9
• Updated the process for requesting paper Forms I-9
• Updated the DHS Privacy Notice

Form I-9 2020

Clarification on who can act as an authorized representative.

• Employers may designate anyone to be an authorized representative to complete Section 2, but the employer is still liable for any violations committed by the designated person. At the City of Aurora, a SWARMHR customer, Michael Pegues (CIO) explains the difficulties completing I-9 forms for remotely hired workers. The USCIS needed more specific instructions which clarify who may serve as an authorized representative when completing the form.

Clarifications pertaining to acceptable documents.

•  Writing N/A in the identity document columns is no longer necessary. When entering document information in the List A column (or alternatively in the List B and C columns), you will not need to enter “N/A” in the columns which are not being used. “The requirement to enter N/A in certain portions of the form could be burdensome and unclear,” Fay said. “Now for example, if you have an employee present a U.S. passport which is recorded in the List A column, you do not need to write N/A in all of the fields in the List B and C columns.”

SWARMHR Keeps You 100% compliant.

Now that you are prepared with the changes on the new I-9 form, download our new templates today! Our customers receive hundreds of constantly updated templates in immigration and HR so that they can stay 100% compliant. We want to make sure that all of our partners thrive and practice strong business ethics. If you’d like to receive these templates, or find more about SWARMHR.