Acceptable Forms of ID for I-9: Lists A, B, C, and Expiration

To complete Form I-9, you present either one document from List A, which proves both your identity and your authorization to work, or one document from List B paired with one from List C, where List B proves identity and List C proves work authorization.¹ You choose which documents to present from the acceptable forms of ID for the I-9, and each document must be an unexpired original. The employer examines them within three business days of your start date.

Every U.S. employer has verified new hires this way since November 6, 1986.² The lists below tell you what qualifies in each category.

List A Documents That Prove Both Identity and Work Authorization

One List A document is enough on its own. If you present a valid one, the employer cannot ask for anything else.¹ These qualify:

U.S. passport or U.S. passport card.
Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551), commonly called a Green Card.
Foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp, or a printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa. USCIS uses these to indicate temporary evidence of lawful permanent residence.³
Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766), a photo ID card issued by USCIS with an expiration date.
Foreign passport together with a Form I-94 carrying an endorsement to work, for certain nonimmigrant visa holders.
Passport from the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands with Form I-94, for citizens admitted under the Compact of Free Association.¹

The employer’s job is to check that the document reasonably appears genuine and relates to the person presenting it. They look at the photo, the name, and any obvious signs of tampering. They are not expected to be forensic examiners.

List B Documents That Prove Identity Only

If you do not have a List A document, you show one document from List B plus one from List C. List B establishes who you are, through a photo or a physical description.⁴ Common List B documents include:

A state-issued driver’s license or ID card. It must have a photo, or if not, it must show name, date of birth, sex, height, eye color, and address.
A federal, state, or local government ID card, under the same photo or descriptive-information requirement.
School ID card with a photograph.
Voter registration card.
U.S. military card or draft record.
Military dependent’s ID card.
U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner credential.
Native American tribal document.
Canadian driver’s license, for Canadian citizens working in the United States.

Workers under 18 who cannot produce any of the documents above have additional options: a school record or report card, a clinic or hospital record, or a day-care or nursery school record.⁴

List C Documents That Prove Work Authorization Only

A List C document confirms you are legally allowed to work. It is always paired with a List B identity document. The following qualify:⁵

Unrestricted Social Security card. It cannot be laminated, and it cannot carry any of these three phrases: “NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT,” “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION,” or “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION.”
Birth certificate with an official seal, issued by a state, county, or municipal authority as an original or certified copy.
Certification of Report of Birth issued by the Department of State (Forms DS-1350, FS-545, or FS-240). DS-1350 was discontinued in 2010, but previously issued copies remain valid.
Native American tribal document.
U.S. Citizen ID Card (Form I-197).
Identification Card for Use of Resident Citizen in the United States (Form I-179).
Employment authorization document issued by DHS, other than the List A Form I-766.

The Social Security card restriction catches people out. If your card says “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION,” it does not work as a standalone List C document. You would need to present separate DHS documentation with it, or choose a different document.

Your Right to Choose Which Documents to Present

You decide which documents from the acceptable lists you present. Federal law prohibits employers from telling you which documents to bring or rejecting documents that reasonably appear genuine.⁶ The Immigration and Nationality Act bans three specific practices:⁷

Asking for more documents than the form requires. If you present a valid U.S. passport, the employer cannot also demand your Social Security card.
Demanding a specific document. An employer cannot insist that you show a Green Card, or any other particular item from the lists.
Rejecting valid documents. If a document reasonably appears genuine and matches you, the employer must accept it.

An employer who tells a foreign-born worker to “bring your Green Card” while accepting a driver’s license from other new hires is breaking the law. Workers who experience this can file a complaint with the Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section.⁸

If a Document Is Lost, Stolen, or Damaged

If one of your documents has been lost, stolen, or damaged and you have applied for a replacement, you can present the receipt for that application. The employer must accept it as long as the job is expected to last at least three business days.⁹ You then have 90 days from your hire date to present the actual replacement. A second receipt cannot be used to extend that window.

Two immigration-specific receipts have their own timelines:¹⁰

Form I-94 with a temporary I-551 stamp and photo acts as a receipt for the Permanent Resident Card. It stays valid until the stamp’s expiration date, or one year from admission if no expiration is shown.
Form I-94 with a refugee admission stamp counts as a receipt for either an Employment Authorization Document, or an unrestricted Social Security card paired with a List B document. You have 90 days to present the actual document.

Receipts only cover replacements and these specific immigration scenarios. A receipt for an initial application, such as a first-time work permit, does not qualify.

When a Document Expires

If the document you presented has an expiration date tied to your work authorization, the employer reverifies before it expires and asks for an unexpired List A or List C document.¹¹ Employers cannot reverify List B identity documents.

Some workers never need reverification at all. U.S. citizens and noncitizen nationals have work authorization that does not expire. Lawful permanent residents who presented a Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551) also do not get reverified, even after the card itself expires; the underlying work authorization is permanent, and asking for a new document in that situation is prohibited.⁶ The exception is a permanent resident who originally presented temporary evidence, such as a foreign passport with an I-551 stamp; that must be reverified by the stamp’s expiration date.¹¹

When you present a document for reverification, the same rules apply as at hire. You choose from the acceptable options, and the document has to be unexpired and reasonably appear genuine.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 2.0 Who Must Complete Form I-9
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 13.1 List A Documents
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 13.2 List B Documents
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 13.3 List C Documents
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 11.2 Types of Employment Discrimination
8
United States Department of Justice. Immigrant and Employee Rights Section
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 – 4.4 Acceptable Receipts
10
eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.2
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Supplement B, Reverification and Rehires