It’s over – Remote review of Form I-9 documents ends, but E-Verify employers have flexibility
The option for remote review of Form I-9 documents, available because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ended on July 31. Employers who used this flexibility must take steps to make sure their paperwork is in order by August 30.
That’s the deadline for verifying documents that were reviewed remotely during the flexibility period that ran from March 20, 2020, to July 31, 2023. During that time, the employers could review documents via video, fax, or email.
Now that the COVID-19 flexibility period has ended, employers who used it need to make sure they properly verify employee documents that were presented remotely. An employer’s next steps depend on whether they were enrolled in E-Verify during the flexibility period.
In-person inspection for employers not enrolled in E-Verify
Employers that were not enrolled in E-Verify during the temporary flexibility period must arrange for an in-person inspection of an employee’s identity and work authorization documents.
An employer could:
- Use a representative to inspect the documents. This individual who does a physical examination of the documents could be a company employee, but does not need to be. It could be anyone who the employer trusts to inspect the documents 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.
- Have the employee report to a company location. The employee could bring the physical documents to a company location and the employer could do the document inspection on-site.
Employers doing an in-person physical inspection must update the employee’s Form I-9 by placing the following information in the Additional Information field in Section 2:
- “COVID-19”
- “Documents physically examined on”
- The date of the physical examination
- The initials of the person doing the physical examination
The Additional Information field should already contain a note about remote inspection of documents and the date the remote inspection was completed.
The appropriate information is entered in Section 3 if the document review was because of a reverification or rehire.
Remote review option for E-Verify employers
Employers who were enrolled in E-Verify during the flexibility period have the option of doing a second document inspection remotely. To use this option, they must conduct a live video interaction for each employee whose documents were examined remotely. This process must be used to finalize the Form I-9, even if a similar one was used during the flexibility period. An employer using this alternative annotates with the Form I-9 with the following information in the Additional Information field in Section 2:
- “Alternative procedure”
- The date of the second remote document examination
- The initials of the person who conducted the video review
The “Additional Information” field should already include the date of the first remote document examination.
As with an in-person inspection, the appropriate information is entered in Section 3 if the document review was because of a reverification or rehire.
The video review option is only available to employers who meet four requirements. They must:
- Have remotely examined an employee’s documentation between March 20, 2020, and July 31, 2023
- Been enrolled in E-Verify when they completed the Form I-9 for that employee
- Created a case in E-Verify for that employee (unless the document inspection was for reverification), and
- Be currently enrolled in and participate in E-Verify
E-Verify employers do not have to use the remote review option, and could instead opt to do an in-person physical examination of documents by August 30.
If they do choose the remote review option, they need to offer it in a non-discriminatory manner. For example, they cannot decide that certain employees are not eligible for remote review because they did not have a driver’s license or another specific type of document.
Key to remember: Employers who remotely reviewed employee documents for the Form I-9 during the flexibility period need to properly reinspect the documents and update the Form I-9 by August 30.
