The U.S. government, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 274A, requires employers, recruiters, or those referring an employee for a fee (hereinafter referred to collectively as "employer") to complete form I-9 in order to guarantee that the employee is eligible to work in the United States for the employer. To complete this form, the employer must have it's employee fill out correctly part of the I-9, then examine the employee's identity documents, following the employer's representative and the employee sign the I-9.

On the I-9 form there are three lists of acceptable documents identifying an employee's eligibility to work. The employee can present for examination either one document from List A, or one each from the the lists B & C . The employer may not demand to see a certain identification document, whether on the lists or not, or refuse to see another type of approved document, as this may lead to a charge of discrimination. This is especially true if the request for documents involve race, religion, ethnicity, sex or national origin.

Form I-9 must be retained by a recruiter or referrer for a fee for a period of three years after the date of recruitment or referral. An employer must retain form I-9 for both of the following time periods a) three years after the date of hire, and b) one year after the date employment ends. Once the latter of these two events occur, it is generally recommended that the employer destroy the form I-9 in question. If they are retained, and errors were made, the Federal Government can fine the employer even after the statutory period.

If an employee has temporary work authorization, the I-9 must be completed again once work authorization ends. Even if an employee obtains an extension of work authorization, failure to re-verify the I-9 will result in fines. All employees with temporary work authorization should be calendared to ensure compliance with this rule. We can help you with this. If employment has ended, and then an employee is rehired within one year, there is no need to complete a new form I-9. If rehire occurs after more then one year, then I-9 verification is required once again. Forms I-9 may be retained not only on regular style paper forms, but also on microfilm or microfiche.

Officials from the INS and U.S. Department of Labor usually can make I-9 inspections at your place of business with only 3 days notice, and without a warrant. Emergency warrants for immediate inspection are sometimes obtained in order to prevent tampering with or destroying evidence.

Work authorization is automatically extended for 240 days for certain foreign workers with temporary visas who have filed an application for an extension of their work visa. An official INS receipt for a timely filed extension application may be used as proof of continuing work authorization for this period of 240 days. An employer must accept such a receipt as proof of continuing work authorization.

When an employee is unable to provide a required document within three business days of hiring, the employee may present a receipt for the application for a replacement document within three business days of the employees hiring, but must present the required document within 90 days of her or his hiring. This rule does not apply when an employer is re-verifiying employment authorization for current employees.

It is a violation of Federal law to refuse to hire an applicant solely because he or she has only a limited-duration INS work authorization.

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