• Employees enter their name, address, date of birth, and Social Security number.
• A Social Security number is optional if the employer does not participate in E-Verify.
• A copy of the Social Security card is not needed for Section 1 of Form I-9.
  

Name: In these fields, employees must enter their full legal name.

• If the employee has two last names (family names), both should be included here. If the employee’s last name is hyphenated in any way, that should also be entered in this field.
• An employee who has two first names (given names) should include both. If the employee’s first name is hyphenated in any way, that should also be entered in this field.
• Employees with only one name should enter it in the “Last Name (Family Name)” field and should then enter “Unknown” in the “First Name (Given Name)” field.
• The employee should include a middle initial, if applicable.

Address: The employee’s current address should be written in this field.

Date of birth: The employee’s date of birth should be entered in this field, in the format indicated.

Social Security number: Though not indicated directly on the form, this field is optional for employees of employers that do not participate in E-Verify. Where the employee does provide a Social Security number in Section 1 (whether voluntarily or because the employer participates in E-Verify), the employee only needs to enter the number in the field. The employer may not ask to see the employee’s Social Security card for the purposes of Section 1. If the employee chooses to present a Social Security card for Section 2 of the Form I-9, however, the employer is then required to examine the document.

Some employers have expressed concern about the speed with which this information may become outdated. However, there is currently no requirement to update an employee’s information in Section 1 when it becomes out of date.