The effective date of the new I-9 form has been delayed for 60 days, until April 3, 2009. It was originally scheduled to take effect on February 2. The comment period on the new form now runs until March 4, 2009.
USCIS published an interim final rule, “Documents Acceptable for Employment Verification,” on December 17, 2008,amending its regulations governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents and receipts that employees may present to their employers for completion of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.
Under this interim rule, employers will no longer be able to accept expired documents to verify employment authorization on the Form I-9. This rule also adds a new document to the list of
acceptable documents that evidence both identity and employment authorization and
makes several technical corrections and updates. The rule is scheduled to become
effective on February 2, 2009.
During the public comment period for this rulemaking action, which currently
concludes on February 2, 2009, USCIS received a number of comments requesting an
extension of the effective date. USCIS is extending the comment period for this rule to
allow additional public comment on the substantive legal and policy issues under this
interim final rule.
The 60-day extension of the effective date of this interim final rule also provides
DHS officials the opportunity for further review and consideration of the interim final
rule.