Employers Must Fix the I-9 Glitch; Download the Corrected Form ASAP

Under federal law, employers have the responsibility to verify the identity and employment authorization of their employees through the Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification).

On November 14, 2016, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a revised Form I-9, allowing employers to download and save it as a PDF, fill in the blanks electronically, and then print the form for their records.

On April 6, 2017, the USCIS announced a glitch had occurred with this on-line form between November 14 and 17, 2016 causing social security numbers entered in Section 1 of the form to print incorrectly. For example, 123-45-6789 entered on that on-line form would appear on the printed form as 123-34-6789.

Any employer who downloaded the form during those three days may still be unknowingly printing incorrect social security numbers. Affected employers can and should fix this particular glitch as follows:

• Discontinue using the incorrect form immediately.
• Download and save the corrected Form I-9 at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9 and delete the incorrect version.
• Review all affected printed I-9 forms for errors in the employee’s social security number.
• Have the employee(s) draw a line through the altered social security number(s), enter the correct number(s), then initial and date the change.
• Retain a written explanation about why the employee made the correction in case of an audit.

It is important for employers to fix any errors as soon as possible, as penalties for failure to complete this form correctly range from $216 to $2,156 per infraction.

See also, Checking Worker Immigration Status (Oct, 2016) and New Changes on Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (May, 2016).

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Cindy Bamforth

May 31, 2017