• Section 2 of the Form I-9 must be filled out by the employer within three business days of the employee’s first day working for pay, not of the hire date.
• For an employee to prove identity and employment authorization, the employee must present one document from List A, which proves both, or one document each from List B (identity) and List C (work authorization).

Section 2 of the Form I-9 is filled out by the employer.

The employer must complete Section 2 within three business days of the date employment begins (the date the employee starts working for pay). This timeframe does not count the day of hire. If an employee was hired on a Monday, for example, but did not begin work until Tuesday, the form would need to be completed by Thursday of that week. (Tuesday would be day 1, Wednesday would be day 2, and Thursday would be day 3, the deadline.)

When an employer hires an individual for fewer than three business days, both Section 1 and 2 of the Form I-9 must be completed by the employee’s first day of work for pay.

Documents required

For Section 2 to be completed, the employee must present a document or combination of documents that show proof of identity and employment authorization.

A representative of the employer must examine the employee’s documentation to ensure that the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and belong to the individual presenting them. The employer must also verify that the documents appear on the Lists of Acceptable Documents.

Some documents show both identity and employment authorization (List A documents). Other documents show identity only (List B) or employment authorization only (List C).

To prove both identity and employment authorization, the employee must present one document from List A (one document total) OR one document from each of Lists B and C (two documents total).

Making photocopies of documentation

While making photocopies of documentation presented by employees to satisfy Form I-9 requirements is permissible, it is not required. Some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) representatives like to see photocopies because then they can see what the employer saw. If, however, the photocopies provide evidence that an employee is not authorized to work in the U.S., having the copies could have negative results.

Employers that choose to make photocopies of documentation must do so consistently and apply the practice to every employee, without regard to citizenship or national origin.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recommends that employers who choose to retain copies of employees’ documentation keep those documents together with employees’ individual Forms I-9.

Employers that make photocopies must do so consistently for all employees, so auditors will likely check to ensure each I-9 (completed within the timeframe that photocopies were being made) has the proper copies attached. Failure to keep copies consistently could result in a discrimination charge.

Copies that are scanned and stored electronically must be retrievable consistent with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) standards on electronic retention, documentation, security, and electronic signatures for employers and employees.

If names do not match

It sometimes happens that either the names on List B and C documents don’t match each other, or that the names on the documents don’t match the name that the employee wrote in Section 1 of the Form I-9.

Where this is the case, remember that there may be slight variations in the names people use on their documentation. For instance, “Michael” might be shortened to “Mike,” or an individual might use a hyphenated last name in one place and a single last name in another. These types of differences aren’t typically problematic on the Form I-9 if the differences don’t cause the employer to question:

1. Whether the documentation is valid/genuine, or
2. Whether the documentation belongs to the person presenting it.

If the name variations are so great that the employer cannot be certain that the documentation is valid and belongs to the person presenting it, the employer should not accept the documentation and should ask the individual for alternate documentation.