Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced flexibility in Form I-9 requirements. The DHS has announced a temporary policy regarding expired List B identity documents used to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. According to this, the List B identity documents, "State ID" or "Driver's License" are acceptable even if they are expired on or after March 1, 2020. Also, the DHS announced flexibility in Form I-9 physical document review. Employers while onboarding the New Hires, can put on hold the in-person verification of Form I-9 employment eligibility documents until the COVID-19 national emergency is terminated. In accordance with these requirements, we have enabled few system level changes in Form I-9 Processing. The changes that have been made in the system are explained in detail in the following sections.

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1)    When your employee provides an acceptable expired List B Identity Document that has been extended by the issuing authority Issuing Authority you should:

For the scenario where state issued documents' (State ID and Driver's License) expiration date is auto extended, I-9 Specialists need to check in the state Motor Vehicle Administration or DMV website for confirmation.

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Attaching a copy of a web page or other notice indicating that the issuing authority Issuing Authority has extended the documents is required. Otherwise, the below error message displays when saving/signing Section 2 activity.

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After the COVID-19 temporary policy ends, within 90 days the employee is required to present a valid unexpired document to replace the expired document presented when they were initially hired. For more details on processing these transactions, please click here. 

b) Form I-9 Physical Document Review Flexibility 

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When the documents are physically verified, choose "Yes" option in the above question.

This will add the text "COVID-19: Documents Physically Examined" in the Addition Information field.

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For more details on process the transactions with "COVID-19: Physical Inspection Delay", please click here.

How to edit

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I-9 Section 2 for the previously processed transactions?

Depending on the invitation status, the procedure to access Section 2 edit may vary. We will discuss few scenarios how this can be handled in the system.

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As an I-9 Administrator or as an Authorized Representative, when you are completing Section 2 for employees with "Alien" status, you will notice a new document title "I-797, Notice of Action" added in List C. This document is treated the same as if the employee presented a valid receipt for an acceptable document. After COVID-19 temporary policy ends and normal operations are resumed after, when the employee presents new evidence of employment authorization, then initiate receipt update process and update "I-797, Notice of Action" with the actual document. The employees may present their new EAD or any other acceptable document from either List A or List C as new evidence of employment authorization.

The following example shows the details of completing Section 2 using "I-797, Notice of Action". Click on List C drop down and select "I-797- Notice of Action" from the list.

This document will not be available in List C once the COVID-19 temporary policy ends.

The following message displays as soon as you select "I-797 - Notice of Action".

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Since I-797 - Notice of Action is accepted as receipt, E-Verify will be on hold until original documents are presented. Click on "Mark as Complete" to complete the process.

Since the transaction has receipts, you will see the Receipts flag enabled in the I-9 Master.

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According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Form I-797 - Notice of Action showing approval of the EAD application is acceptable for completing Form I-9 when reverifying the current employees. Employees who require Reverification may present this document for completing Form I-9 during COVID-19 temporary policy.

The following example shows the details of completing Section 3 using "I-797, Notice of Action" during COVID-19 temporary policy. Click on the Document Title and select "I-797- Notice of Action" from the drop down.

The following message displays as soon as you select "I-797 - Notice of Action".

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Enter other details of the document and complete Section 3. When the New Hire presents actual document, initiate Reverification Correction and replace I-797 - Notice of Action with the new document.

How to complete I-9 transactions after

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COVID-19 temporary policy ends?

For details on processes that are scheduled to run after the temporary policy ends and completing the I-9 transactions that are auto generated by these the processes, please click here.