• Remote employees may be designated an in-person representative who can help complete the Form I-9 and who can deliver the form to the employer within three days.
• Agricultural employers must comply with the employment eligibility verification requirements determined by the INA.
• Forms must be retained for three years by either the employer or the recruiter/referrer.

Remote employees

As with all employees, remote employees must complete Section 1 of the Form I-9. When reviewing the identity and employment authorization documents for Section 2, employers with remote employees have a few options. They may:

1. Designate a representative of the employer who can complete the I-9 process in person with the employee
2. Require the employee to visit a company location to have the documents examined in-person
3. Use the remote verification process, if the employer participates in E-Verify

Option 1: Employer representative. The employer’s representative must make sure Section 1 is completed in full by the employee. The representative will also examine the employee’s documentation and complete Section 2 of the Form I-9.

This individual does not need to be an employee of the company; it may be anyone who the employer trusts to carry out I-9 responsibilities on the company’s behalf. This could be a lawyer, a public official, or a notary public. A relative or friend of the employee could also examine the documents, but employers are responsible for any mistakes that are made.

Since the employer is ultimately responsible for any errors or omissions made by its representatives, it is a best practice to ensure that individual authorized to carry out I-9 responsibilities is properly trained.

Once completed, the original Form I-9 is delivered to the employer, who should keep the form secure. Employers must be able to produce all employees’ forms within three days in case of a government audit.

Option 2: In-person review of documents. An employer could have the employee report to a company location within three days of hire to have identity and employment eligibility documents verified in person. If the employee is traveling to company headquarters for training, this may be viable. Otherwise, it may not be a convenient or cost-effective option due to the time and expense associated with travel.

Option 3: Remote review. An employer participating in E-Verify can remotely review an employee’s identity and eligibility documents. To take advantage of this alternative procedure, an employer must:

• Be enrolled in E-Verify,
• Examine and retain copies of all documents,
• Conduct a live video interaction with the employee, and
• Create an E-Verify case if the employee is a new hire.

When remote review is used for viewing the employee’s eligibility and identity, employers must check a box on the employee’s Form I-9 indicating that the documentation was examined under an alternative procedure rather than via physical examination.

Document examination using remote review

When documents are reviewed remotely, employees must first transmit a copy of the documents to the employer. The same documents are presented during the live video interaction. The employer examines the copies of the documents or an acceptable receipt to make sure the documentation reasonably appears to be genuine.

Both the front and back of the document are examined if the document is two-sided.

Remote review responsibilities

Only E-Verify employers in good standing can use the remote review procedure. If an employer offers the remote review procedure at a hiring site, the employer must offer it consistently to all employees at that site. An employer may choose to offer the alternative procedure for remote hires only as long as this is not done for a discriminatory purpose.

An employer using an alternative procedure must retain a clear and legible copy of all documents presented by the new hire.

Reverification for remote employees

Supplement B is completed when an employment authorization needs to be reverified. When a remote employee’s documentation needs reverification, the employer may again use a representative who can examine the employee’s documentation in person, although it does not need to be the same representative who helped the employee the first time.

An employer participating in E-Verify may use an alternative procedure authorized by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to examine the documents.

Agricultural employees

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), it is unlawful for an agricultural association, agricultural employer, or farm labor contractor to refer for a fee, hire, or recruit an individual for employment in the United States without complying with employment eligibility verification requirements. This provision applies to those agricultural associations, agricultural employers, and farm labor contractors who recruit people for a fee, and to those who refer people or provide documents/ information about people to employers in return for a fee.

This limited class of recruiters and referrers for a fee must complete the Form I-9 when a person they refer is hired. The Form I-9 must be fully completed within three business days of the date employment begins or, in the case of an individual hired for fewer than three business days, at the time employment begins.

Recruiters and referrers for a fee may designate agents, such as national associations or employers, to complete the verification procedures on their behalf. If the employer is designated as the agent, the employer should provide the recruiter or referrer with a photocopy of the Form I-9. However, recruiters and referrers for a fee are still responsible for compliance with the law and may be found liable for violations.

Recruiters and referrers for a fee must retain the Form I-9 for three years after the date the referred individual was hired by the employer. They must also make Forms I-9 available for inspection by an officer from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), or the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER).