Prepare for an I-9 Audit

Employer: How to Prepare for an I-9 Audit

During this fiscal year, ICE has served more than 5,000 Notices of I-9 Inspections on employers across the country. They have also made almost 1,000 administrative worksite-related arrests. Employers need to be prepared for I-9 audits.

Conduct Periodic Internal Self-Audits

Since I-9s became required for new hires in 1986, we have always advised employers to conduct internal self-audits as a way to eliminate, or at least minimize, their liability for I-9 violations.
Employers need to make sure that employees complete Section 1 of form I-9 no later than their 1st day of employment. They are required to print their name, address, e-mail address and phone number.
They must attest whether they are either a (1) US citizen; (2) a non-citizen national; (3) a lawful permanent resident; or (4) are authorized to work in the US until a particular date. A lawful permanent resident must provide his/her alien number. A person with a temporary work permit must choose between completing information from 1 of 3 documents.
The employer must then sign and date the I-9 attesting, under penalty of perjury, that the information is true and correct.

Helpful I-9 Resources for Employers

Over the past 30+ years, walking the fine line between I-9 compliance and refraining from violating federal anti-discrimination laws has become increasingly difficult for employers. Fortunately, the USCIS now provides the online resources to help employers comply with the complex rules governing these subjects:

How to Avoid Common I-9 Mistakes

The USCIS website contains a page on I-9s entitled Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. Also, when our law firm has conducted audits of I-9 forms for employers, I have often observed that far too many of the employees submit Drivers Licenses and Social Security Cards. Often, this results from HR telling the employees which forms to submit. Instead, HR should simply show each employee the list of List A, B and C documents and inform them that they need to submit a List A document, or a List B and a List C document. Be aware that employees cannot be compelled to list their Social Security numbers on form I-9 unless the employer is enrolled in the E-Verify program. If an employee is a lawful permanent resident, their employer should never reverify their I-9 form simply because their green card expires. Finally, there are numerous types of EAD work permits that automatically are extended for 180 days if the employee submits a timely application for extension.