Employers have until July 31, 2022 to update all employees’ Forms I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, that were initially completed with an expired List B identity document between May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2022, under the temporary policy outlined below, due to COVID-19.
Background
On May 1, 2020, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a temporary policy allowing employers to accept expired List B identity documents for purposes of completing Form I-9 (the “Temporary Policy”).
The Temporary Policy indicated provided that employees would be required to present a valid, unexpired List B identity document within 90 days of the termination of the Temporary Policy.
Termination of Temporary Policy
On March 17, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced it was ending the Temporary Policy, and effective May 1, 2022, employers were no longer allowed to accept expired List B identity documents.
What Do I Need to Do?
If the employee’s Form I-9 was completed between May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2022 with a List B identity document that expired on or after March 1, 2020:
| IF | THEN |
| The employee is still employed. |
|
| The employee is no longer employed with your organization. |
|
| The employee is still employed, the expired List B identity document was automatically extended by the issuing authority, and the employer documented such on the Form I-9. |
|
What About Remote Inspections?
The current flexibilities related to the physical inspection requirements are still in place through October 31, 2022. As a reminder, this compliance flexibility only applies to employees:
- hired on or after April 1, 2021;
- work exclusively in a remote setting due to COVID-19 related precautions; and
- until they undertake non-remote employment on a regular, consistent or predictable basis,
or - the extension of the flexibilities related to such requirements is terminated, whichever is earlier.
DHS will evaluate certain COVID-19-related Form I-9 completion practices on a case-by-case basis in the event of an audit.
DHS also encouraged employers to begin, at their discretion, the in-person verification of identity and employment eligibility documentation for employees who were hired on or after March 20, 2020, and who presented such documents for remote inspection in reliance on the flexibilities first announced in March 2020.