Can I Hire a Worker Whose Social Security Card Says
"Valid Only With DHS Authorization"?
Question:
I run a small landscaping company that sometimes hires workers from other countries, but I’ve come across a situation that I’ve never seen before. A recently hired worker showed me a card that says, “Valid only with DHS authorization.” What is this?
Is it okay to accept it for purposes of Form I-9?
Answer:
While this is likely a genuine Social Security card (it is unclear why someone would want a fake card that does not allow him or her to work), you cannot accept it for I-9 purposes, as it does not serve as evidence of a person’s work authorization. A card bearing this notation is known as a “restricted” Social Security card; the Social Security Administration typically issues such cards to foreign nationals who possess time-limited work authorization (such as H-1B visa holders, students working under Optional Practical Training, and those who have been granted deferred action under DACA).
If an employee presents a restricted Social Security card to you during the I-9 process, you should tell him that the card is not acceptable as a List C document and should give
him an opportunity to present alternative documentation.
He may be able to present a List A document, such as an Employment Authorization Document (EAD, also known as an I-766, Employment Authorization Card) or a foreign passport containing an I-94 card (a record issued to a foreign national when he enters the U.S. indicating his visa status and the expiration date of his authorized stay in the U.S.) endorsed for work. If the I-94 is not part of the passport, the employee may present it as a List C document proving work authorization together with any List B identity document.
Be careful about accepting an I-94, however. It may only be used if the period of endorsement has not yet expired and the proposed employment does not conflict with any restrictions or limitations listed on the I-94. Also, some persons, such as certain students and exchange visitors, must also present additional documentation in order to prove their work authorization in the United States.
Failing to have your green card with you is a misdemeanor and if you are found guilty you can be fined up to $100 and put in jail for up to 30 days. (I.N.A. Section 264(e).) A copy is not good enough, because the law does not use the word “copy” or refer to “other evidence” of LPR status.
The official evidence of LPR status that most people eventually receive is an “alien registration receipt card,” also known as Form I-551 or, more commonly, a “green card.” Sometimes, people do not have their green card, but are already LPRs. For example, when somebody first arrives in the U.S. with an immigrant visa, they first receive an “I-551 stamp” in their passport. Weeks later, they receive the actual green card in the mail. In the time before receiving the green card in the mail, the LPR would have to carry his or her passport “at all times” or risk breaking the law.
If you decide to carry a copy of your green card instead of the original because you want to keep the original safe, you will be violating the law. Will you actually be stopped by immigration, prosecuted and fined or jailed for not having your original green card with you? It's unlikely. Like any other government agency, immigration authorities have limited resources and cannot spend precious government time and money on prosecuting people for not carrying their green card “at all times.”
But there have been cases where LPRs are detained or arrested during workplace enforcement actions for not having their green card on them. So to be on the safe side, and obey the law, you should actually carry your green card with you everywhere you go. And it probably goes without saying that if you will be traveling internationally, you should take your original green card with you to board a plane or boat back to the U.S. and to reenter the U.S. as an LPR.