My employee’s employment authorization reported on the I-9 is about to expire. What should I do?

An employer must reverify the I-9 before the earlier of either 1) the expiration date of the employment authorization that the employee lists in Section 1 of the I-9, or 2) the expiration date of the List A or List C employment authorization document provided by the employee.

To briefly review, List A documents prove both the person’s identity and their eligibility to work (an I-766 Employment Authorization Document with a photograph, for example), while List C documents prove only a person’s eligibility to work. List B documents, which prove only a person’s identity (such as a state-issued driver’s license), do not need to be reverified (in fact, an expired List B document is acceptable even for initial verification of the I-9).

To help them make sure that they timely reverify employees’ I-9s, many employers set up automatic reminders that alert them on a date before an employee’s employment authorization expires. Advance warning can also be helpful for the employee, who might find that a reminder gives them time to renew their employment authorization document.

When an employer hires an employee in the United States, the employer is immediately required to verify the employee’s identity and work eligibility by completing the Form I-9 employment verification process. The purpose of the I-9 verification process is to require employers to verify that the people they hire are authorized to work, and to impose penalties on employers who either fail to do so, or who otherwise employ individuals who are not authorized to work in the U.S.

The main way that an employer verifies that an individual is authorized to work in the U.S. is to complete the USCIS Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for each person the employer hires. The process, in general, consists of the employee providing to the employer documents that prove 1) the employee’s identity, and 2) that they are authorized to work in the United States.

Employers who want to continue employing an employee whose employment authorization is expiring must reverify the employee’s I-9. This means that the employer must verify that the employee possesses a document that authorizes them to continue working.

No. Reverification is not required for U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, or lawful permanent residents of the United States who present a green card (including those with conditional residency).

To reverify an employee’s Form I-9, the employer must complete Section 3 of the Form. To do so, the employee must provide the employer with an unexpired List A or List C document that shows that they are authorized to continue working.

Remember that the employee is entitled to provide whichever documents on List A or List C that they prefer. The employee does not need to provide the same List A or List C document that they provided for initial I-9 verification. The employer must defer to the employee’s choice and, as long as the documents the employee provides are acceptable, the employer cannot require different or additional documents than the employee chooses to provide. The employer should be careful to comply with this requirement – failure to do so could cause the employer to be liable for discrimination against the employee.

Referring to the employee’s List A or List C document, the employer would complete Section 3. For Block A of Section 3, the employer would only include the employee’s name if the name has changed. If the employee’s name has not changed, the employer can mark these questions “N/A.”

Regarding the “Date of Rehire” (Section 3, Block B), the employer can write “N/A” if the employee is being reverified rather than rehired. For our post on the I-9 process for rehired employees, please see here .

Using the employee’s List A or List C document, the employer would complete Section 3, Block C. This block asks about the new document provided by the employee, including the document title, number, and expiration date. This document must be unexpired.

Finally, the employer must sign Section 3. The person who actually reviews the employee’s List A or List C document should sign this section.

Unfortunately, a receipt is not acceptable evidence if it shows that the employee submitted an initial application for a document, or that they applied to extend the validity of a document. However, a receipt is acceptable to show that the employee applied to replace a document that was lost, stolen, or damaged.

In certain circumstances and depending on other documentation provided, a receipt may also be acceptable if the employee has refugee status or is a lawful permanent resident.

No. The employee must provide an original List A or List C document. A copy is not acceptable.

The employer cannot continue employing an individual who is unable to provide proof that they are currently authorized to work.

For more information on the I-9 employment verification process, please see our earlier post here .