Employment Eligibility Verification is Form 1-9 in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The purpose of this form is to verify an employee’s identity, and to ensure that the worker is eligible to work in the U.S.
Employers who wish to hire foreign worker have to file the I-9 form and verify the identity of every new employee hired after Nov 6, 1986. This also includes recruiters, agricultural employers, or farm labour contractors. The idea behind this form is to prevent any unlawful hiring and hiring of aliens who are not authorized to work in the country.
The Form has three sections:
- Employee information and Attestation - this includes the basic information about the employee like name, date of birth, social security number etc. Employees must complete this section.
- Employer or Authorized Representative Review and Verification - employers would have to examine the evidence of identity that was provided by the employee in the previous section.
- Reverification and Rehires - this section applies if you are attempting to rehire an employee that is already authorized.
It is extremely important that both the employer and employee fill this form accurately.
Your application may be rejected if the officer reviewing is not satisfied with the identities of the employee and the employer.
The employer may use “E-verify” to examine the employee’s identity. E-verify compares the data presented by the employee in section 1 to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration record.
If you have questions about hiring a foreign worker, feel free to contact us and we would be happy to discuss your situation and provide you with options.