All U.S. employers must verify the employment eligibility and identity of all employees hired to work in the United States, including U.S. citizens, by completing Employment Eligibility Verification forms (Forms I-9) for all employees.

On November 7, 2007, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that a revised I-9 is now available for use. The revised Form I-9 is a further step in USCIS’ ongoing work toward reducing the number of documents used to confirm identity and work eligibility. In the new I-9, the government changed the items on List A, "Documents that Establish Both Identity and Employment Eligibility." The following is a summary of the changes. For more details, please visit the links provided below.

Only five documents may be used to meet the List A requirements: (1) a U.S. passport (unexpired or expired); (2) a Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551); (3) an unexpired foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp; (4) an unexpired Employment Authorization Document that contains a photograph (Form I-766, I-688, I- 688A, or I-688B); and (5) an unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired Arrival-Departure Record (Form I-94) for non-immigrant aliens authorized to work for a specific employer.

The following items are no longer are valid for List A: Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N- 570); Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570); Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-151); the unexpired Reentry Permit (Form I-327); and the unexpired Refugee Travel Document (Form I-571).

As of November 7, 2007, the Form I-9 with a revision date of June 5, 2007 is the only version of the form that is valid for use; however, during a 30-day period, employers will not be penalized for using the old form. The revision date of the Form I-9 is printed on the lower right corner of the form and states “(Rev. 06/05/07)N.” The revised form and the “Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9” are available online at http://www.uscis.gov/i-9. General information regarding immigration issues may be found at www.uscis.gov. You may also order forms, by calling USCIS toll-free at 1-800-870-3676. For forms and information on immigration laws, regulations, and procedures, call the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. Again, all employers are required to complete a Form I-9 for each employee hired in the United States. Employers who hire or continue to employ individuals knowing that they are not authorized to be employed in the United States may face civil and criminal penalties.