On December 12, 2008, US CIS announced that it had submitted to the Federal Register an interim final rule that is intended to streamline the employment eligibility verification (I-9) process. Under this rule, fewer documents are acceptable for establishing identity and expired documents are no longer acceptable. These changes are intended to enhance the security of the employment verification process. The new form must be used effective February 2, 2009.

As background, the I-9 form must be completed by all employers, agricultural recruiters and referrers for a fee. The form is used to establish the identity and employment authorization of new hires through a single document contained on List A or a combination of documents from List B and List C. Specifically, the rule eliminates older versions of the Temporary Resident and Employment Authorization Cards (Forms I-688, I-688A, and I-688B) under List A (documents that establish both identity and employment authorization), but adds foreign passports that contain machine-readable immigrant visas and documentation for certain citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The rule also changes the employee attestation section and eliminates the use of all expired documents.

The interim final rule and an informational copy of the revised Form I-9 will be available for public comment at www.regulations.gov for 45 days after publication in the Federal Register. The new form is available for use by the public at www.uscis.gov. Employers who fail to use the new form after that date may be subject to civil penalties.