Completing the I-9 Form and E-Verify

This procedure is required for newly hired employees as well as employees who are rehired.

*Note: The Department of Homeland Security has published an updated I-9 form with a revision date of 03/08/2013.  Departments should always ensure that the most current version of the I-9 form is used in the hiring process.

STEP 1 — Log into the I-9 Online Inquiry database and determine what is needed from the employee. 

  • new I-9 (See Step 2 (A)) 
  • re-verify as a rehire (See Step 2 (B) — No E-Verify needed).

STEP 2 (A) — If a new I-9 is required: 

  • Print a new I-9 form and give to employee to complete Section 1. (Make sure you are giving the employee the updated version of the I-9 form.) 
  • Section 1 of the I-9 form MUST be completed on or before the employee's first day of work (to be completed by the employee). 
  • Section 2 of the I-9 form MUST be completed on or before the employee's third day of work (to be completed by I-9/E-Verify Coordinator). 
    NOTE: Employees always have a choice of which acceptable documents to present for I-9 completion. As an E-Verify participant, if an employee chooses to present one of the following documents, you must make a legible copy of the document to compare the employee's photo contained in the document with the photo that will display in the E-Verify photo matching tool.  The copy should be submitted to the Office of Human Resources along with the I-9 form. 
    • Documents that MUST be copied if presented include: 
      • U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card 
      • Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551) 
      • Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766) 
  • The date that "the employee began employment" MUST be entered in the Certification portion of Section 2. This date MUST be the employee's first day of work. 
  • If the I-9 Online Inquiry database indicated that E-Verify is required, go to Step 3. 
  • If the I-9 Online Inquiry database does not indicate that E-Verify is required, forward the I-9 form to HR.

STEP 2 (B) — If a reverification as a rehire is required: 

  • Print a new I-9 form. 
  • Enter the name of the employee being rehired in Section 1. 
    • If the employee is NOT a US Citizen, ask the employee if anything has changed in their work authorization status. 
    • If there has been a change in status or if the document on record has/will expire before the hire date, ask to view the updated document. Non US Citizens MUST present a valid work authorization document in order to work. If the work authorization document will expire soon after the employee's start date, continue with the hiring process, but inform the employee that this MUST be rectified no later than the document expiration date in order to continue employment. 
  • Go to Section 3 of the I-9 form. Enter the rehire date (and the updated work authorization document information if necessary).
  • The I-9/E-Verify Coordinator must sign and date the form. 
  • Forward the reverification I-9 form to HR. 
  • No E-Verify is needed.

STEP 3 — E-Verify 

  • Once the I-9 form is complete, I-9/E-Verify Coordinators may begin the E-Verify process. (I-9 Online Inquiry database will tell you if E-Verify is required; DO NOT E-VERIFY IF IT'S NOT REQUIRED!) 
  • As with the I-9 form, the E-Verify process may only begin AFTER an offer of employment has been accepted. 
  • The "Hire Date" in E-Verify may now be a date up to 365 days into the future. Previously, users were unable to enter a future hire date into the E-Verify system and were forced to enter either the current date or a date in the past as the hire date. With the latest E-Verify enhancement, users should now make sure the hire date entered into E-Verify corresponds to the date the employee actually began (or will begin) working as listed in the Section 2 "Certification" box on the I-9 for a new hire. 
    • If the employee provided one of the following documents, the employee's photo on the document presented MUST be compared to the photo displayed during the verification process in E-Verify. The photos should appear reasonably identical. The documents include: 
      • U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card 
      • Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551) 
      • Employment Authorization Document that contains a photography (Form I-766) 
    • If the employee's hire date changes after you have created the case in E-Verify, no additional action is required in E-Verify as you cannot change the hire date once you've created the case. You must, however, make a correction to the Section 2 "Certification" date or Section 3 "Date of Rehire" on the employee's I-9 form if the employee's hire date changes. 
  • Complete the E-Verify process. 
  • Print the "Employment Authorized" document and staple to the I-9 form. 
  • Write the Case Verification Number on the front of the I-9 form (at the top). 
  • If the E-Verify process results in a Tentative Nonconfirmation, print the TNC notice and have the employee choose either to "contest" or "not contest," sign and date. Attach the TNC to the I-9 form. 
  • Print the referral to the appropriate agency and give to the employee. Explain to the employee that they have 8 federal government work days to contact the agency indicated on the referral. 
  • Call HR (323-2273) to notify of TNC. 
  • Forward I-9 and "employment authorized" document or TNC to HR.