More flexibility with Form I-9 compliance expected in 2022

Like nearly all aspects of employment law today, immigration law hasn’t been immune from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trend is likely to continue throughout 2022, particularly with regard to employment authorization documentation. The federal government is looking to consider additional flexibility for employers working to comply with the requirements.

What employers need to know

Form I-9. Every U.S. employer is required to complete the Form I-9 for any newly hired employee (regardless of immigration status) to verify their eligibility to work in the country. The rule became part of employment immigration law after Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA).

Ten years later, the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 required the then-Immigration and Naturalization Service (now the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS) to create a pilot program to develop an online system so registered employers could quickly verify employment eligibility. Since the rule’s implementation, employers historically have created workers’ I-9s by hand and in paper form, even after the government created the digital E-Verify platform.

E-Verify. Administered by USCIS, E-Verify is a free, mostly voluntary web-based tool that allows employers to verify any newly hired employee’s employment authorization electronically. The system is seen as the silver bullet to combat widespread document fraud enabling the employment of undocumented workers.