Can an Expired Driver’s License Be Used for I-9?

An expired driver’s license cannot be used for Form I-9. Every List B identity document you hand to your employer must be unexpired at the moment you present it, and a driver’s license is no exception.¹ There is one narrow situation where a license past its printed expiration date still works, and several straightforward alternatives if yours has truly lapsed.

Why the License Gets Rejected

A driver’s license sits on List B of the I-9 acceptable documents, meaning it proves who you are but says nothing about your authorization to work.² The form itself is blunt about the rule: “All documents containing an expiration date must be unexpired.”¹ Your employer has no discretion. Even if the license expired yesterday and looks pristine, they are required to reject it.

One boundary worth clearing up: during the pandemic, DHS temporarily allowed employers to accept expired List B documents. That flexibility ended on May 1, 2022, and has not been reinstated.³

The Only Exception: A Formal Extension by the DMV

Form I-9 carries an asterisk that trips a lot of people: “Documents extended by the issuing authority are considered unexpired.”¹ If your state DMV has formally extended your license past its printed expiration, whether through a sticker, a letter, or an updated record in the DMV’s system, your employer can treat it as unexpired.

Here is where people get tripped up. A state law letting you keep driving on an expired license is not the same thing as the DMV extending the document itself. USCIS has said so directly, confirming that a state law allowing expired licenses to remain valid for driving does not make those licenses acceptable for Form I-9.⁴ If your state has passed something along these lines, check whether the DMV actually extended the document or whether the law just lets you drive without renewing. Only the first helps you on an I-9.

What to Present Instead

If your license is expired and the DMV hasn’t extended it, you are not stuck. Renewing before your start date is the cleanest fix, but plenty of other documents will get you through Section 2. The choice of which document to present is entirely yours; your employer cannot tell you which one to bring.⁵

A Single List A Document Solves Everything

A List A document proves identity and work authorization at once, which means you skip the whole List B and List C combination. A U.S. passport, passport card, or Permanent Resident Card all qualify.² If you have one of these on hand, the expired license stops mattering.

The Receipt Rule (Lost, Stolen, or Damaged Only)

If your license wasn’t just allowed to expire but was lost, stolen, or damaged and you have applied for a replacement, the receipt from the issuing authority works as a temporary stand-in. It is valid for 90 days from your hire date, and by then you must present either the replacement or another acceptable document.⁷ The receipt rule does not apply to a license that simply expired with time. It also does not apply if the job will last fewer than three business days.⁸

If You Are Under 18

Younger workers who don’t have a driver’s license or any other standard List B document can present a school record, report card, clinic or hospital record, or day-care record.⁶

Your Employer Cannot Demand a Specific Document

This comes up often. An employer tells a new hire to bring a driver’s license and Social Security card, full stop. That is not how the rules work. Federal law prohibits employers from telling you which documents to present. You pick from the acceptable documents lists, and the employer must accept whatever you offer as long as it reasonably appears genuine and relates to you.⁹

Demanding specific documents, or rejecting valid ones based on a worker’s citizenship, immigration status, or national origin, is an unfair immigration-related employment practice and carries civil penalties.¹⁰ If an employer waves off your tribal document or passport card and insists you produce a valid driver’s license, the employer is the one out of compliance.

What If You Cannot Produce Anything in Time

Your employer has three business days from your first day of employment to examine your documents and finish Section 2. If you cannot present acceptable documents in that window, the employer cannot legally keep you working. Most will suspend or terminate employment until the paperwork is resolved, which is why lining up a backup document before your start date matters when a license renewal is running slow.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
3
E-Verify. DHS To End COVID-19 Temporary Policy for Expired List B Identity Documents
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expired North Carolina Drivers Licenses Are Not Valid for Form I-9 Purposes
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 13.2 List B Documents That Establish Identity
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Receipts
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 4.4 Acceptable Receipts
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 4.0 Completing Section 2 – Employer Review and Verification
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 U.S. Code 1324b – Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices