DHS Allows Remote I-9 Review Amid COVID-19

Part of standard employment procedures is completing a physical Form I-9 review with your new employee. Since life is operating remotely for the foreseeable future, completing an in-person inspection of I-9 documents is pretty much impossible for most employers. What can you do if you have a new employee joining your team? Let’s take a look. 

What is Form I-9? 

The Form I-9 is a form all U.S. employers must use to verify their new employee’s identity and employment authorization in the U.S. This form has to be completed for both citizens and non-citizens. 

On the form, an employee attests to his or her employment authorization. Part of completing the Form I-9 is the employee presenting their original documents evidencing their identity and employment authorization. Employers must examine these documents and confirm whether it appears to be genuine, that it relates to the employee and then record the information on the Form I-9.

Form I-9 has three sections. The employer has to ensure all three sections are completed correctly. The new employee has to complete section 1 on their first day of employment. You, as the employer, have to review section 1 for any possible errors and then complete section 2. You have to complete section 2 of the form within 3 days of the employee joining your team. Section 3 is only applicable where you conduct a verification of the employee’s authorization to work or where there is a rehire. 

The new employee has to provide one or more of the listed I-9 documents that prove their identity and authorization to work in the U.S. These documents must be inspected while the employee is present.

This is the standard procedure for an I-9 review. But how is a Form I-9 review supposed to work if your team is operating remotely during the pandemic? 

Temporary Remote Review of Form I-9

Part 2 and 3 of the Form I-9 requires employers to inspect the original documents presented by employees within the specified timeframe. In the current COVID-19 pandemic with most offices working remotely, checking original documents is pretty much impossible. 

Fortunately, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it would defer the requirement for employers to inspect the documents in person. You can review the documents presented by the employee remotely (for example, via e-mail or video link). This concession is only allowed where employees are working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not permitted where the employee is physically present at the work location. 

To review the documents remotely, you must meet with your employee remotely to review the documents presented. The document must still be one of the documents listed on the I-9 List of Acceptable Documents. As soon as you’ve reviewed the documents remotely, you can complete section 2 or section 3 (whichever is applicable). 

Keep in mind, you must still complete section 2 or section 3 (as applicable) within the required timeframes after the remote inspection. If you collect and review employee documents remotely, you must retain copies of the documents you inspected until you can meet physically.

After normal operations resume and your employees are back at the office, you must complete the in-person physical inspection of the original documents presented by the employee within 3 days. The employee has to be present during this inspection. It is also essential to make sure the same person who conducted the remote inspection conduct the in-person inspection of the original documents.

Once the in-person inspection is completed, employers must make an additional entry in the applicable “additional information” field on the Form I-9. This entry must state the date of the in-person physical inspection and also explain why the review was delayed. Something along the lines of “original documents inspected in person on [date]. Physical inspection delayed due to COVID-19” will be sufficient. 

Automatic Validity Extension of Certain I-9 Documents

The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t just impacted an employer’s ability to do a physical inspection. Many states have temporarily closed their department of motor vehicle offices in the pandemic and have announced temporary extensions of expiring identification cards and driver’s licenses. These states include California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

To comply with the requirements of Form I-9, the documents presented by the employee must be valid on the date presented. If, however, the employee’s documents expired on, or after, March 1, 2020, and the document is covered by the specific state’s blanket temporary extension, the DHS has confirmed you may accept this document. If this is the case, you must record the document’s actual expiration date in section 2 and write “COVID-19 EXTENSION” in the additional information field. As an extra measure, you can print the state’s announcement confirming the automatic extension and attach it to the Form I-9. 

How Should Remote-Working Employers Proceed?

If your team is working remotely and you need to complete a Form I-9 for a new team member this is how you can go about it:

• Ask the remote employee to complete section 1 of the Form I-9 and to choose the applicable identity and work-authorization document from the list. 
• Within 3 business days of the employee’s hire date, inspect the employee’s document over a video link, fax, or e-mail. 
• After inspecting the document remotely, complete section 2 of the Form I-9. 
• Enter COVID-19 as the reason for the delay of the physical inspection in the additional information field. 
• Keep any copies of the document you inspected remotely.

After your team is operating normally again, you’ll have 3 business days to examine the original versions of the same documents the employee presented remotely. As soon you’ve physically inspected the document, add “documents physically examined” and the date of the inspection to section 2’s additional information field (or section 3 if applicable). Remember, the same person who conducted the remote review also has to do the physical inspection.

When Will In-Person Review of Form I-9 be Required? 

To make it simple, you need to conduct the in-person review within 3 days of your regular operations resuming. In legal terms, the in-person verifications are required to be completed within 3 days of the national emergency is terminated or within 60 days of the DHS’s announcement of this remote review policy (whichever occurs first). 

Conclusion

You don’t have to worry about doing a physical Form I-9 review in this time where the pandemic is in full swing, and everyone is staying safe through social distancing. This is one less thing to worry about in the midst of many layoffs and the desperate need for stimulus packages. All you have to do is make sure you conduct the remote Form I-9 review with your new team member and take care of the rest as soon as your normal operations resume. Stick to the stipulated time frames, and you’ll be more than okay! 

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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