Employment Eligibility Verification Forms I-9 (“I-9 Forms”) must be completed for each employee, regardless of citizenship or national origin, as follows:

  • Section 1 of the I-9 must be completed by no later than the day of hire.
  • Section 2 of the I-9 must be completed by no later than the third (3rd) day of business.
  • Section 3 of the I-9 Form must be completed:
    • Whenever an employee changes his or her name;
    • Whenever an employee is re-hired within three (3) years of the date the I-9 Form was originally executed; or
    • Whenever the employee’s employment authorization is about to expire, to show that he or she has ongoing employment authorization

Employers may complete I-9 Forms for employees before the mandated deadlines, provided the forms are completed at the same point in the hiring process for everyone.  Employers should not complete I-9s before an applicant accepts the job offer since the form requires sensitive information, such as citizenship status and marital status.

Employer must retain the following for each employee:

The original I-9 form;

Photocopies of the documentation presented by the employee; and any I-9 forms previously used to re-verify employment authorization.

The employer must retain this I-9 documentation for three (3) years after the date of hire, or for one (1) year after the date employment is terminated, whichever is later.  Because I-9 forms contain sensitive biographic data that could potentially form the basis of a discrimination lawsuit (such as the employee’s age, marital status, or national origin), the I-9s should be retained separate from all other personnel documentation.