Who is a preparer/translator?

A preparer/translator is an authorized proxy who assists a New Hire in completing Form I-9 Section 1. New Hires can invite them to participate in the onboarding process during their Section 1 activity.

How to invite a new preparer/translator?

The default selection for the Preparer/Translator option on the I-9 Section 1 page is "I did not use a preparer or translator". To display the Preparer/Translator section in I-9 Section 1, change this option to "A preparer(s) and/or translator(s) assisted the employee in completing Section 1". If any preparers have been added, they will appear in the Preparer/Translator dropdown.

If a new preparer need to be invited, click the "Invite New Preparer" button.

Few examples of these validation messages that will be displayed upon field change are given below: 

If non-alphabetical characters are entered in the name fields:

If alphabetical characters are entered in the Phone field:

When email format is entered wrong:

After entering values, click the "Invite" button.

Click "OK" on the message to confirm and send the invitation to the user.

The following message confirms the email has been sent. Close the following message.

Below is a sample email invitation. The new preparer can start their self registration by clicking on the "Start I-9 Process" link.

How many preparers/translators can you invite?

You can invite as many preparers or translators as needed in I-9 Section 1. However, the print report's section for preparers/translators (Supplement A) can include a maximum of eight preparers/translators.

How to add preparers/translators in the Section 1 activity?

All preparers/translators who have been sent invitations will appear in the dropdown list. Select the name of the preparer to whom you want to assign the Section 1 activity. This will automatically populate the preparer's details in the grid provided below.

To add more preparers, click the "Add Preparer" button, which will create a new preparer section. From the dropdown list, select the preparer's name to be added.

Once all preparers are added, click the "Save" button. The preparers will not have access to the transaction until Section 1 is saved.

Before saving make sure the citizenship status is selected. Otherwise, you will be prompted to select your eligibility.

Note: To remove an already added preparer from Section 1, use the "Delete Preparer" option in the corresponding row. The preparer cannot be deleted once they have completed their assigned Section 1 activity i.e the Section 1 signature is completed.

How does a preparer complete their Section 1 activity?

Once logged in, the preparer can view the Section 1 activity under the pending tasks section on their homepage. The Section 1 task will only appear as pending once the New Hire has added the preparer's name to their Section 1 activity and saved it.

By clicking the "I-9 Section 1" link, the preparer can proceed with their Section 1 activity.

The preparer must enter the required information, upload any attachments (optional), and electronically sign the form. If they prefer to save the data and sign the form later, they can use the "Save" button.. 

If the address details are not entered, the following error message displays when the activity is saved or electronically signed.

Once a preparer completes their electronic signature, the New Hire can view the completed activity, including the electronic signature and the populated address details, in the designated section. After the signature is completed, the New Hire cannot delete that preparer from the activity.

What data will be reflected on the New Hire's Form I-9 when multiple preparers are added?

When multiple preparers make changes to Section 1 data and sign the form, the most recent data will be reflected on the New Hire's Form I-9. The New Hire cannot sign the form or complete the activity until all preparers have completed their electronic signatures.

How to complete Section 1 after the preparer's process is completed?

When Section 1 activity is assigned to preparers, the "I Agree" checkbox will remain disabled until all preparers have completed their Section 1.

The "I Agree" checkbox will only be enabled once all preparers have completed their Section 1 signatures. 

To complete the Section 1 activity, check the "I Agree" box and then click the "Electronically Sign" button. If attachments are required in the I-9 activities and none have been uploaded by the preparers/translators, you will be prompted to upload them.

Where can you find the preparer details in the downloaded signed form?

In the downloaded signed form, the preparer data can be found on the Supplement A page. This page will only be available if preparers/translators were used in Section 1.

A sample downloaded signed form is provided below:

What happens to the access of already linked preparers if the New Hire chooses not to use them?

If a New Hire decides not to use preparers/translators who have already been linked to the I-9, they can change the option under "Preparer and/or Translator Certification" to "I did not use a preparer or translator" and revoke the associated invitation. The invitation can be revoked until the preparer completes their Section 1 signature. Once the preparer has completed the Section 1 signature, the New Hire can no longer revoke the invitation.

Different scenarios of revoking the prepare's invitation after they have been added to the grid are discussed below. In this example, a couple of preparers have been added to the Section 1 grid.

Scenario 1: When the preparer option is toggled to "I did not use a preparer or translator" and the transaction is not saved:

Even if the preparer option is switched to "I did not use a preparer or translator" under preparer's certification, the preparers invitation will not be revoked in Section 1 until the transaction is saved. The preparer details will still appear in the preparer's dropdown list.

When the preparers option is toggled to "I did not use a preparer or translator", a message will appear on the page. If "Yes" is selected, the preparer data will be removed from the grid.

When the option is toggled back to "A preparer(s) and/or translator(s) assisted the employee in completing Section 1" the preparers still appear in the dropdown.

If "No" option is chosen on the warning message, there will be no impact on the preparer data. The preparers added in the grid will remain unchanged. 

Scenario 2: When the preparer option is toggled to "I did not use a preparer or translator" and the transaction is saved:

When the preparer option is switched to "I did not use a preparer or translator," the following message will appear on the page. Confirm the action by clicking "Yes" and then save changes.

If the preparer option is toggled back to "A preparer(s) and/or translator(s) assisted the employee in completing Section 1", the previously added preparers will not appear in the preparer/translators dropdown list.

Additionally, the invitations for these preparers will be revoked. This can be verified on the "Manage Proxy Invitations" page under Invitation Personalization. For more details on Invitation Personalization, please click here.

To navigate, select "Invitation Personalization" in the left menu.

Click on the "Manage Proxy Invitation(s)" link.

You will notice invitations are revoked for the above preparers.

The revoked preparers will not have access to the system. Also, the self registration link provided in the welcome email will not work. In case, if preparers try to access the self registration page through this link, they will see the following error message on the page.

How to invite a preparer/translator in correction processes?

The method for inviting a new preparer/translator during correction processes, such as I-9 Section 1 Correction or SSN Update, is similar to the procedure discussed earlier in this section. However, these additional processes inherit the preparers/translators associated with the main process. This means that if preparers are used in Section 1 of the primary onboarding process, they will also be accessible in the correction processes. The New Hire can choose from the preparers inherited from the primary process or invite new preparers as needed to complete Section 1.

How do you manage preparers/translators through Invitation Personalization?

The preparers/translators added in Section 1 can be managed through Invitation Personalization. Once the preparers are invited, their list will be displayed under Invitation Personalization for the New Hire. The New Hire can perform "Resend Welcome" or "Revoke" actions as needed through this option. For more details, please click here.