I-9 Section 1
What is Form I-9 Section 1?
New Hires must complete Section 1 of Form I-9 before accepting an employment offer. After entering the required information, they must electronically sign the form to confirm the accuracy of the details provided. If New Hires need help filling out the form, they can invite preparers and/or translators to assist in the onboarding process. These individuals will be able to complete Section 1 and electronically sign on behalf of the New Hire.
A sample of the Form I-9 Section 1 page is provided below:
|
How to complete Form I-9 Section 1?
The details of filling the Form I-9 Section 1 are provided below:
The employee information in the header section of Form I-9 may or may not be pre-populated, depending on your organization's settings and the product you are using. This information is typically drawn from the data entered during the Employee Biographic Information activity.
- Smart I-9: Since the Smart I-9 product does not include the Employee Biographic Information activity, the employee details in the header will be blank, requiring you to fill them in manually.
- Smart Onboarding: In the Smart Onboarding product, the employee details will be populated in the header based on your organization's configuration.
Examples:
Section 1 page with header details populated:
|
Section 1 page with header details blank:
 |
If the header fields are pre-populated, you can proceed directly to selecting your citizenship or immigration status. If the fields are blank, you must complete them before moving forward. For more details on how to complete the Section 1 header, please click here.
Citizenship or immigration status:
Select one of the options (#1-4) from this section, and provide any additional information related to your selection as needed.
| Citizenship or immigration status | Description |
|---|---|
1. A citizen of the United States | An individual who holds the United States citizenship |
| 2. A noncitizen national of the United States | A noncitizen national of the United States is an individual born in American Samoa, certain former citizens of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and certain children of noncitizen nationals born abroad. |
| 3. A lawful permanent resident | This specific immigration status describes an individual who is not a U.S. citizen and who resides in the United States under legally recognized and lawfully recorded permanent residence as an immigrant. |
| 4. A noncitizen (other than Item Numbers 2. and 3. above) authorized to work | An individual who is permitted to work in the United States, but is not a citizen or national of the United States, or a lawful permanent resident. |
Citizenship or immigration status = "A citizen of the United States"
|
Citizenship or immigration status = "A noncitizen national of the United States"
|
Citizenship or immigration status = "A lawful permanent resident"
Enter the seven- to nine-digit Alien Registration Number (A-Number) or USCIS Number in the text box provided. The USCIS Number is the same as the A-Number without the “A” prefix.
|
Citizenship or immigration status = "A noncitizen (other than Item Numbers 2. and 3. above) authorized to work":
The following highlighted fields become accessible to input the values.
|
Enter the date your employment authorization expires. In most cases, your employment authorization expiration date is found on the document(s) evidencing your employment authorization. Those whose employment authorization does not have an expiration date should check "No Expiration Date" checkbox. In some scenarios, your employment authorization document may have been automatically extended; in these cases, you should enter the expiration date of the automatic extension in this field.
Note: Refugees, asylees, and certain citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or Palau, and other noncitizens authorized to work whose employment authorization does not have an expiration date, should check "No Expiration Date" checkbox for the Expiration Date field.
|
Enter one of the following document details: USCIS A-Number (Alien Registration Number), Form I-94 Admission Number, or Foreign Passport Number along with the Country of Issuance.
|
If you wish to upload supporting documents, click the "Attachments" gadget located in the bottom right corner of the page.
|
You may also be prompted to upload documents if attachments have been set as a mandatory requirement for the I-9 activities.
|
Invite preparers and/or translators if assistance is required to complete this activity. Fill out the Preparer and/or Translator Certification based on whether a preparer and/or translator will assist in completing Form I-9 Section 1. For more information on how to use a preparer and/or translator for completing I-9 Section 1, please click here.
Once the necessary details are entered, select the "I Agree" checkbox and click "Electronically Sign".
|
If Section 1 header fields are open, how do you enter the information?
The Section 1 header information includes the following fields -
| Field | Required/Optional | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Last Name (Family Name) | Required | Enter your full legal last name. Your last name is your family name or surname. If you have two last names or a hyphenated last name, include both names in this field. If you only have one name, enter it in this field, then enter "Unknown" in the First Name field. You may not enter "Unknown" in both this field and the First Name field. |
| First Name (Given Name) | Required | Enter your full legal first name. Your first name is your given name. If you only have one name, enter it in the Last Name field, then enter "Unknown" in this field. You may not enter "Unknown" in both this field and the Last Name field. |
| Middle Initial | Optional | Your middle initial is the first letter of your second given name, or the first letter of your middle name, if any. If you have more than one middle name, enter the first letter of your first middle name. If you do not have a middle name, leave the field blank. |
| Other Last Names Used (if any) | Optional | Provide all other last names used, if any (such as maiden name). Leave the field blank if you have not used other last names. For example, if you legally changed your last name from Smith to Jones, you should enter the name Smith in this field. |
| Address (Street Number and Name) | Required | Enter the street name and number of the current address of your residence. If your residence does not have a physical address, enter a description of the location of your residence, such as “Two miles south of I-81, near the water tower". If you are a border commuter from Canada or Mexico, you may enter your Canada or Mexico address in this field. |
| Apt. Number | Optional | Enter the number(s) or letter(s) that identify(ies) your apartment. If you do not live in an apartment, leave the field blank. |
| City or Town | Required | Enter your city, town or village in this field. If your residence is not located in a city, town or village, enter your county, township, reservation, etc., in this field. If you are a border commuter from Canada, enter your city and province in this field. If you are a border commuter from Mexico, enter your city and state in this field. |
| State | Required | Select the abbreviation of your state or territory from the drop-down list. You may also type the first letter of the abbreviation and use the down arrow to select your state or territory. If you are a border commuter from Canada or Mexico, you should choose your country abbreviation, located at the end of the drop-down list. |
| Zip Code | Required | Enter your 5-digit ZIP code in this field. If you are a border commuter from Canada or Mexico, enter your 5- or 6-digit postal code in this field. |
| Date of Birth (mm/dd/yy) | Required | Enter your date of birth as a 2-digit month, 2-digit day, and 4-digit year (mm/dd/yyyy). For example, enter January 8, 1980 as 01/08/1980. Note: If you are entering the Date of Birth manually, keep in mind that the date format depends on the browser's settings. If the format is set to something other than US, the date may be entered incorrectly. To ensure the correct US date format is used, it's recommended to select the date using the date picker provided on the screen. |
| U.S. Social Security Number | Required (Choose "Applied for SSN" checkbox if you have applied for SSN) | Providing your 9-digit Social Security number is mandatory if your employer participates in E-Verify. If your employer participates in E-Verify and: 1. You have been issued a Social Security number, you must provide it in this field; or 2. You have applied for, but have not yet received a Social Security number, leave this field blank until you receive a Social Security number. Click "Applied for SSN" checkbox. |
| Employee's Email Address | Optional | Providing your e-mail address is optional on Form I-9, and leave the field blank if you do not want to enter the e-mail address. To enter your e-mail address, use this format:name@site.domain. One reason the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may e-mail you is if your employer uses E-Verify and DHS learns of a potential mismatch between the information provided and the information in government records. This e-mail would contain information on how to begin to resolve the potential mismatch. You may use either your personal or work e-mail address in this field. |
| Employee's Telephone Number | Optional | Providing your telephone number is optional on Form I-9, and leave the field blank if you do not want to enter the telephone number. Enter only the numbers of your 9- or 10-digit telephone number. |
If you need help in completing the form, please use the "Instructions" button provided at the bottom of the page.
|
Each field on the I-9 Section 1 page has specific validations. If incorrect data is entered, error messages will prompt you to provide valid information. The system first validates the mandatory fields, followed by checking the input values for errors. If no errors are found, it verifies for any mismatches between the Employee Biographic Information (EBI) and the Section 1 header data in the following fields: First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Cell Phone, Home Address, Email, and SSN.
Given below are some examples of error validations that you might encounter when inputting values into Section 1 fields. To address these errors, simply close the error message and provide the correct value in the field where the error occurred. If the entered value is valid, the error will disappear when you move to another field.
Name and Address fields:
Please note the following points when entering the name and address fields:
- The fields - Middle Initial, Other Last Names Used, Apt. Number can be left blank.
- The first letter in the name fields will be automatically capitalized, and any special characters (like @, #, -, !, $, %, apostrophe, hyphen, space etc) will be removed.
- The Address (Street Number and Name), Apt. Number, City or Town allow entering dot (.) in their fields but special characters (like @, #, -, !, $, %, apostrophe, hyphen, space etc) are not allowed.
The address fields also allow entering Canada and Mexico addresses other than the United States. The examples are given below:
| I-9 Section 1 with United States address |
|---|
|
| I-9 Section 1 with Canada address |
|---|
|
| I-9 Section 1 with Mexico address |
|---|
|
Below, you will find few validation error messages that appear on the page when you move to another field or attempt to save Form I-9 Section 1:
| When any of the required fields are not entered |
|---|
|
When an invalid Address (Street Number and Name) is entered |
|---|
|
| When an invalid Apt. Number is entered |
|---|
|
| When an invalid City or Town is entered |
|---|
|
| When an invalid Zip Code is entered |
|---|
|
Social Security Number:
Entering SSN in Form I-9 is required if your Company/Business Unit is E-Verify registered. If you leave SSN field blank and not choose "Applied for SSN" option, the following warning message appears when you save/sign Section 1.
Note: Entering SSN is optional if your Company/Business Unit is not E-Verify registered.
|
If the entered SSN value is of wrong format, the following message is displayed.
|
When you tab out after entering the SSN value, the field will be masked as shown below. You can edit the masked value or click on "Show" to check the value entered in the SSN field.
|
Date of Birth:
If the Date of Birth entered is wrong, the system displays below message requesting user to enter correct format or use calendar button to pick the date.
|
Employee's Email Address:
Enter a valid email address or leave the field blank. The following error messages will be displayed if an invalid email address is entered into this field.
When the email domain is entered wrong:
|
When email address is invalid such as entering a dot (".") before @ in the email address:
|
Employee's Telephone Number:
If other than 10 digits or incorrect format is entered in "Employee's Telephone Number":
|
What happens if the values entered in Section 1 and Biographic Information do not match?
The values in Biographic Information and I-9 Section 1 need not be the same. However, a warning message will appear in I-9 Section 1 when saving or signing if there is a mismatch in data.
The following fields are validated for any mismatch in the data: First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Cell Phone, Email, Home Address and SSN.
| Biographic Information |
|---|
|
If the data entered in the Section 1 header does not match the corresponding fields in the Biographic Information, an error message will appear when attempting to save or sign the activity.
Choose "OK" or "Cancel" on the following message. If you click "Cancel" the system returns to the Section 1 page and allows you to re-enter the information.
| Warning message |
|---|
|
In case, you want to proceed with different values in Section 1, click "OK" on the warning message and continue. This will proceed to save or complete depending on the action you have performed and will generate the I-9 ID.
|
How do you upload attachments in I-9 Section 1?
Documents can be uploaded by using the "Attachments" gadget located at the right bottom corner of the page.
|
Click on the "Upload" button.
|
Click "Choose File" and select the file you want to upload as an attachment. Documents in png, jpg, jpeg, gif, bmp, and heic formats are allowed.
|
Click on "Upload" after the file is attached.
|
The attachment is displayed on the page as shown below. Select the appropriate attachment category from the dropdown menu. Use the same procedure to upload multiple attachments.
|
If category is not selected for the attachment, the following error message displays when you click the "OK" button to exit the page.
|
Note: To prevent issues with uploading large images, the system automatically compresses files larger than 1.5 MB. Images in 'png' format or those smaller than 1.5 MB will be uploaded without compression. For images exceeding 1.5 MB in 'jpg,' 'jpeg,' 'gif,' or 'bmp' formats, compression will be applied when they are attached.
After uploading the file attachments, click "OK" to return to the Section 1 page.
|
If attachments are present, the gadget icon will display an indicator as shown below. If no documents are attached, the indicator will not appear on the gadget.
|
Can you edit Section 1 information after the activity is completed?
After completion of Section 1 activity, the process routes to the next pending activity. However, you can navigate back to Section 1 and edit the details if needed until the process is submitted to HR (which is the last task in the onboarding process).
To edit, click the "Edit" button located at the bottom of the completed I-9 Section 1 activity.
|
The Section 1 page opens in edit mode. Make changes to the data as necessary, check "I Agree" checkbox and click "Electronically Sign".
|
If the employee information (header) fields are editable, you can make changes to these details as well. If attachments are to be modified, click the attachments gadget and make the necessary edits.
|
However, the Preparer and/or Translator Certification section is non-editable, and you cannot invite or add a new Preparer/Translator. If any preparers were initially added to the transaction, they will be displayed in the Preparer and/or Translator Certification section, but no edits to this data are allowed.
|
How to download Section 1 signed forms and attachments?
The New Hire can download the Section 1 signed forms and attachments only after completing the activity. Click the "Download Signed Forms" icon available on the right bottom corner of the page.
| Download Signed Forms |
|---|
|
The sample downloaded Section 1 form is shown below. Preparer details will appear on the Supplement A page under the Preparer and/or Translator Certification for Section 1. Supplement A will only be included in the print if preparers or translators are present in Section 1.
|
| iew" link |
Another option to download and print the completed forms is via the "View" link in the Process Snapshot section on the home page.
|
This will open the process viewer page as shown below.
Scroll down to Section 1 activity on the process viewer page and click on the download icon adjacent to the activity. This will display the options to download the signed forms and attachments.
|
© Smart ERP Solutions, Inc.