Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. All U.S. employers must properly complete Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives of the employer) must complete the form.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is reminding employers that the temporary policy that allowed employers to inspect Form I-9 documents remotely in certain situations related to COVID-19 will end on July 31, 2023. The DHS also announced that employers will have until August 30, 2023 to perform all required in-person/physical examinations of I-9 documents for those individuals who have only received a virtual examination.

Temporary policy ends July 31, 2023.

Employers must generally inspect Section 2 documents in the employee’s physical presence. However, due to the pandemic, the DHS had offered employers some flexibility. Specifically, until July 31, 2023, the requirement that employers inspect the I-9 documentation in-person applies only to those employees who physically report to work at a company location on any regular, consistent, or predictable basis, according to the DHS. If employees work exclusively in a remote setting due to COVID-19-related precautions, they are temporarily exempt from the physical inspection requirements until they go back into the workplace on a regular, consistent, or predictable basis, or July 31, 2023, whichever is earlier.

Deadline for in-person document review is set for August 30, 2023.

https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-examples-related-to-temporary-covid-19-policies

This link shows how DHS recommends that you notate Form I-9 when remotely inspecting employment authorization and identity documents and then subsequently performing the required in-person physical inspection.

If you have questions or require additional information, please contact us at info@cornerstonehr.us