Background
U.S. employers must have all new employees complete the I-9 Form at the beginning of employment to confirm eligibility to work in the United States. Employees must also show documentation to an authorized employer representative as outlined in the I-9 Form and its instructions. Employers generally cannot require employees to provide specific documents (e.g., social security card, driver’s license, etc.) to satisfy the I-9 requirement, but must allow workers to submit any combination of documents that meets the form’s parameters.
Form I-9 Revision
On January 31, 2020, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a revised I-9 Form that employers must use by May 1, 2020. The notice provides employers additional time to make necessary updates and adjust their business processes. Employers may continue using the prior version of the form (Rev. 07/17/2017) until April 30, 2020.
Substantive changes to the I-9 Form are relatively minor. Most important, the new form bears a new revision date of 10/21/2019 & Expiry date of 10/31/2022. Employers should reference that date to confirm they are using the latest version of the document.
Avionté is currently reviewing all the necessary changes to be made on the new Form I-9 (including some COVID-19 items), which will be completed & released to all clients in advance of the April 30, 2020 deadline. All clients will be notified when the new form is available for use.
DHS issues Guidance Relaxing Form I-9 Requirements
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued revised guidance on I-9 compliance in light of employer office closures around the country due to COVID-19.
Due to precautions being implemented by employers and employees related to physical proximity associated with COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it will exercise discretion to defer the physical presence requirements associated with Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9).
Employers with employees taking physical proximity precautions due to COVID-19 will not be required to review the employee’s identity and employment authorization documents in the employee’s physical presence. However, employers must inspect the Section 2 documents remotely (e.g., over video link, fax or email, etc.) and obtain, inspect, and retain copies of the documents, within three business days for purposes of completing Section 2.
Employers also should enter “COVID-19” as the reason for the physical inspection delay in the Section 2 Additional Information field once physical inspection takes place after normal operations resume. Once the documents have been physically inspected, the employer should add “Documents Physically Examined” with the date of inspection to the Section 2 additional information field on the Form I-9.
Utilizing Avionté with Adobe I-9 for Remote Verification
Adobe Sign (AERO & BOLD)
The Avionté AERO & BOLD platforms allow for the remote completion of the Form I-9 utilizing Adobe Sign. Per the new DHS guidelines involving remote verification of Section 2 of the I-9, clients can send the I-9 as a talent task to the employee for section 1 completion from the application, then (via video, fax or email) inspect the section 2 Identity & Work Authorization of the employee.
Avionté has made a temporary adjustment to the Form I-9 in order to allow the employer to use optional dropdown selections when completing section 2, Additional Information using the DHS guidelines.
Dropdown selection 1 = “COVID-19”
Dropdown selection 2 = “COVID-19 EXT”
Dropdown selection 3 = “Documents Physically Examined"
Due to the encoded security features of Adobe Sign Documents, there is a limitation to how documents can be managed after they are completed & signed. The completed Form I-9 that is stored in Avionté AERO & BOLD cannot be re-opened in order to apply the “COVID-19”, "COVID-19 EXT, “Documents Physically Examined” or Confirmation Examination Date, upon the physical return of the employee to complete section 2 in-person.
The optional dropdowns inserted with the additional information area of section 2 are designed to assist with the in-person physical review process of the employee identification at later date. These dropdowns are not required to use, and all information can be manually written on a later date of COVID-19 related Form I-9 reviews.
The use of the COVID-19 related dropdowns in Section 2 will display on the completed form as shown below. To complete the DHS requirement to reexamine the employee identity and work authorization documents after normal operations resume, the Form I-9 must be printed from Avionté, then the physical reexamination date can be written into the Additional Information area of section 2.
To identify all Form I-9s that were completed via remote section 2 verification, Adobe Sign Document Audits can be performed in both AERO & BOLD to print and complete the manual entry of information of the forms when employees are present in-person for review. Once the written information is completed, the physical form can be retained & also can be re-uploaded to the employee profile.
Using a date range that coincides with the beginning of the remote I-9 verification & when the practice ends, all completed Form I-9s can be mass identified and selected for export with the audit tool. Avionté has detailed Knowledge Base articles to assist with how to conduct the Adobe Sign Document Audits in both AERO & BOLD. Links provided below:
Adobe Sign Document Audit: AviontéBOLD
Adobe Sign Document Audit: AviontéAERO
Legacy eDocuments (CLASSIC)
The Avionté platform allows for the remote completion of the Form I-9 utilizing the Employee Portal in conjunction with the Legacy Edoc Form I-9. Per the new DHS guidelines involving remote verification of Section 2 of the I-9, clients can send the Form I-9 via the Employee Portal to the employee for section 1 completion from the application, then (via video, fax or email) inspect the section 2 Identity & Work Authorization of the employee.
Avionté has made a temporary adjustment to the Legacy Edoc Form I-9 (version 10/21/19) in order to allow the employer to use optional dropdown selections when completing Section 2/Additional Information, using the DHS guidelines upon the in-person examination of documents when the employee can physically come to the office. *Note, utilizing the COVID-19 selections after re-opening a completed Form I-9 will disable the ability to utilize the Section 3 Reverification portion of the form in the future.
Utilizing Avionté with Legacy Edoc Form I-9 for Remote Verification (Form I-9 - version 10/21/19)
- Locate the employee profile to complete the COVID-19 Form I-9 document review and navigate to the EDocuments section: Employee > Documents > EDocuments. Open the completed I-9 by clicking the Binoculars Button under “View”.
- Scroll down to the completed Section 2 – Additional Information portion of the Form I-9 to locate the newly added dropdown & field.
- From the drop-down, select COVID-19 / Documents Physically Examined.
- Click into the field below the drop-down to select the date of the physical document review.
- Review the completed information, then scroll to the bottom the page and select Click to Finish.
For I-9 compliance, documents must be valid when presented. DHS has confirmed that employers may accept ID cards and driver’s licenses that show an expiration date on or after March 1, 2020, and are covered by a state’s blanket temporary extension because of coronavirus. To rely on such an ID card or license as a List B identification for I-9 compliance, employers must record the document’s actual expiration date in Section 2 and enter “COVID-19 EXT.” in the Additional Information field.
Utilizing Avionté with Legacy Edoc Form I-9 for Remote Verification (Form I-9 - version 07/17/2017)
- Locate the employee profile to complete the COVID-19 Form I-9 document review and navigate to the EDocuments section: Employee > Documents > EDocuments. Open the completed I-9 by clicking the Binoculars Button under “View”.
- Scroll down to the completed Section 2 – Additional Information portion of the Form I-9 & Type the required text issued by DHS. Select Click to Finish.
For more information, and before acting on any information contained within this article, Avionte recommends consulting with your legal counsel. This information should not be construed as, and does not constitute, legal advice.