How to Fill Out an I-9 Form (+ Video Guide)

this video will teach you how to fill out an I-9 form and what documents are required for verification employers are required to complete an I-9 form which confirms eligibility to work in the United States within three days after a new employee starts the employee fills out the top section of the first page and employers must verify and fill out the rest the U.S citizenship and Immigration Services recently launched an updated I-9 form the new form now includes all required information and signatures on only one page hi my name is Jennifer Soper staff writer and Human Resources expert for fit small business now let's check out what's new on the updated I9 form I-9 form was updated with a version start date of 8123 an expiration date of 731 2026 and now sections 1 and 2 are on the first page there is now a supplement a preparer and or translator certification that can be found on page three and a supplement B reverification and rehire which could be found on page four this was formally section 3. now let's find out how to fill out an I9 form to fill out the I9 form Begin by downloading the current I9 form which is free and available in English and Spanish you can use the fillable PDF or print and give paper copies to your new hires Section 1 of the I-9 form is the employee information and attestation it should be completed in full by the employee if any of the fields are not relevant such as your employee has no email they can write in a in the field the first part of section one is to provide the employee's information have the employee input their last name first name middle initial if applicable and any other last names used then they will need to input their Street address apartment number city or town their state using the drop down menu and zip code additionally they want to include their date of birth social security number and email address if they have one and their telephone number some employees have non-standard names such as hyphenated last names or no middle initial other employees may not have received their social security number yet their instructions provided in the handbook for employers for these unique situations you can find this and other information in our article Linked In the description box below the second part of Section 1 attests under penalty of perjury that the employee is eligible to work in the United States the employee should check the appropriate box a citizen of the United States a non-citizen national of the United States a lawful permanent resident and a non-citizen the employee should then sign and date where indicated if you're using a payroll provider look for the I-9 and other new employee forms on its website software like Gusto can email I-9 forms to employees with instructions on how to complete the form as well as tools to sign and submit the forms electronically section 2 is the employer review and verification section this used to be on page two it is now in the updated form on page one to complete this portion of the employment eligibility verification form have the employee bring in two forms of identification which must be examined in person examples of acceptable documents can be found in our I-9 form article which is linked in the description box below to remain compliant with federal and state labor laws and to prevent employment discrimination don't tell the employee Which documents to bring provide them with the instructions asking them to bring documentation per the I-9 form to prove that they're legally eligible to work in the United States using the documents provided by the employee the employer representative will complete the identity and employment authorization sections list a or list B and C fill in the following Fields the document title the issuing authority the document number if there is one and the expiration date if any the form allows for additional information you can use this space to document any irregular activity when filling out the form for example if you followed protocol and examine the I-9 documents remotely due to covid-19 you can make that note when an employee prevents presents identification as defined by list a the form can be completed with only that one document which serves both to identify the employee and validate that they are authorized to work in the United States some examples include a U.S passport a permanent resident card a foreign passport employment authorization document if the employee does not provide documentation from list a then they must provide two forms of identification as required in list B endless C the most common type of identification that U.S employees present is a driver's license which is used for identification and a social security card which is their work authorization as an employer you must accept any of the documents listed on the I-9 instructions that can be used to establish the person's Identity or employment authorization these include from list B a driver's license an ID card a school ID card photo registration U.S military card a military dependent ID card and more from list c a social security card a certificate of report of birth issued by the Department of State an original or certified copy of a birth certificate and more after you have completed list a or list B and C then you will go back to page one and enter the start date of the employee this is the date the new hire began work with your company the employer or authorized representative though then will sign the document this includes their last name first name and title their signature the date the document was signed the company's name and the company's address once you've seen the original documents yourself or had your representative verify them and you've noted the document title issuing authority document number and expiration date on the I-9 form hand the documents back to the employee there's no need for you to keep photocopies it is a best practice to accept the documentation provided as long as it appears to be genuine and related to the employee however if the document is not an original or the name or image has been manipulated you may ask the employee to provide you with original documents that have not been altered if the employee used a preparer or a translator to complete their I-9 form then they must complete page three of the updated I9 form now titled supplement a prepare and or translator certification the employee no longer needs to check a box stating they use to prepare or translator instead have the preparer or translator complete page 3 and sign if more than one preparer or translator was used to help the employee complete the I-9 form then each person is responsible for filling out one of the indicated boxes with their signature date full name and address page 4 of the updated I9 form is supplement B reverification and rehires formally Section 3 it is used only to review documentation that was applied for but not yet received at the time of hire or referrify documents when an employee is rehired similar to section 2 you or your representative will sign that you have reviewed verify the document once the employee brings it in you do not need to fill out a new form simply add to the existing I-9 if an employee has been away from employment for with your company for three years or less you will need to complete the rehire portion of supplement B upon their return simply input the rehire date and any name change information and then sign and date for any employee that requires re-verification have them present in person any acceptable documents to show continued employment authorization enter the document information in the spaces provided then sign and date the signature portion will be at the bottom of the page where you can put the name of the authorized representative or employer the signature the date and any additional information and I-9 is needed only when you hire an employee who will be paid wages and receive a year in W-2 you do not need an I-9 form if you're hiring a contract employee who you'll pay through your accounting system and issue a 1099 a year in to verify that the I-9 is completed make sure all required fields are filled out or make sure they are marked unknown or in a signature fields are completed and dates are input and in the correct format when verifying an I-9 form for a remote employee the rules are a bit different you still need to verify in person the documents the remote employee is presenting if you are unable to verify documents in person you will need an authorized representative to verify the documents for you this can be a friend or family member of the employee or any person who can physically view the documents provided the best way to accomplish this is to have the employee and their authorized representative join a video call where you can see the employee the representative and the documents have the employee download a fillable PDF of the I-9 document and fill out the top portion then have the authorized representative view the documents and fill in the employer section and sign the document from there have the employee send you the completed I9 form and upload their documents to you so that you can verify what is entered on the form once documents are signed and verified create an electronic or paper file folder called i-9s and store them by year as a best practice do not store signed employment eligibility verification forms in employees Personnel folders due to the confidential information they contain thanks for watching learn more about how to hire employees in our next video

This transcript was generated automatically from the video's captions and may contain errors.