You can still use an older edition of Form I-9 for a new hire only if that edition is one of the three USCIS currently accepts. As of 2026, that means the 01/20/25 edition, the extended 08/01/23 edition (both valid through 05/31/2027), and the original 08/01/23 edition, which is valid only through 07/31/2026. Any edition outside that list is expired for new-hire purposes, and using one is treated as a substantive paperwork violation carrying fines of $288 to $2,861 per form.
Which I-9 Editions Are Still Accepted
The edition date printed at the bottom of the form is what determines whether you can use it for someone you’re onboarding today. Three editions are currently valid:
- Edition 01/20/25, valid through 05/31/2027. This is the newest version.
- Edition 08/01/23 (extended), also valid through 05/31/2027.
- Edition 08/01/23 (original), valid only through 07/31/2026.
After July 31, 2026, the original 08/01/23 version can no longer be used for new verifications. The two editions dated for 05/31/2027 will remain usable until then.1U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
Don’t read the expiration date in the upper-right corner as a deadline for switching. That date tells you when USCIS stops accepting that edition for new hires. It says nothing about forms you’ve already completed.
Old Editions Already Sitting in Your Files
A Form I-9 completed on an edition that was valid at the time of hire stays valid in your files forever, even after that edition later expires. You do not go back and redo old paperwork every time USCIS releases a new form. The retention obligation is separate from which edition is current.
How long to keep a completed form runs on a two-part rule: three years after the date of hire, or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.2eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.2 – Verification of Identity and Employment Authorization The shortcut most employers use: if the person worked for you less than two years, keep the form for three years from the hire date; if longer than two years, keep it one year past their last day.3U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 10.0 Retaining Form I-9
So the answer to whether you can “still use” an old form has two parts. For someone you’re hiring today, no, unless the edition is on the current list. For a form already completed and filed for an existing or former employee, yes, and you must keep it until the retention clock runs out.
What It Costs to Use an Expired Edition
Auditors sort I-9 problems into two buckets. Technical or procedural failures are minor items like a missing middle initial or a date in the wrong format, and you get at least ten business days to correct them before they convert into fineable violations. Substantive violations are the serious ones from the moment they’re found: missing forms, late completion, accepting expired documents, and using an invalid edition of the form.
Paperwork violations run $288 to $2,861 per form under the penalty schedule that took effect July 3, 2025.4Federal Register. Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustments for 2025 A 200-employee workforce with a 30% error rate could see fines above $170,000 at the top of that range. Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized worker is a separate, much steeper category: $716 to $5,724 per worker for a first offense, $5,724 to $14,308 for a second, and $8,586 to $28,619 for a third or later offense. Criminal penalties, including imprisonment, are possible when the government can show a pattern or practice of violations.5U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Penalties
An audit begins with a Notice of Inspection giving you at least three business days to produce your forms at the location the officers specify.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 10.3 Inspection Once officers have the forms, edition dates are among the first things they check.
How to Avoid Using the Wrong Version
The simplest fix is to stop working from a stack of blank forms you printed months ago. Download a fresh copy from the USCIS website every time you onboard someone new.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification That single habit eliminates the most common way employers end up completing a new hire’s I-9 on an edition that expired months earlier.
If you use an electronic I-9 system, confirm with the vendor that they push edition updates automatically. If they don’t, the responsibility falls on you to check.
Deadlines That Get Confused with Version Problems
Timing errors show up in audits alongside version errors, and they’re classified the same way. Section 1 must be completed no later than the employee’s first day of work. Section 2 must be completed within three business days after the first day.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification For a job lasting fewer than three business days, both sections must be completed on the first day.
Late completion is a substantive violation even if the form itself is filled out correctly. A perfect form on the current edition, completed on day five, still carries a fine.
Rehires and Supplement B
When you rehire someone within three years of their original I-9, you have a choice: start a new form on a current edition, or update the old one using Supplement B, which was formerly called Section 3. If the original form is on an edition that has since expired, complete Supplement B on the current edition and attach it to the old form.8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Supplement B, Reverification and Rehires (formerly Section 3) This is the one situation where an expired edition legitimately stays in play for an active employee: the old form remains the base document, and the current-edition Supplement B rides along with it.
Before using Supplement B, confirm the employee’s work authorization on the original form has not expired. If it has, the employee must present a current List A or List C document. If more than three years have passed since the original form was completed, you cannot use Supplement B at all; a new Form I-9 on a current edition is required.
The Spanish-Language Version
One boundary worth flagging because it looks like a version question but isn’t. USCIS publishes a Spanish-language Form I-9, but only employers physically located in Puerto Rico may use it as the official completed form. Everywhere else in the United States, the English edition must be the form filed. You can hand the Spanish version to a Spanish-speaking employee as a translation aid, but the copy that goes in your records has to be the English one.7U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Filing the Spanish version outside Puerto Rico is treated as a substantive paperwork violation, on the same footing as using an expired edition.
Storing Older Forms You’re Required to Keep
Completed I-9s can be stored on paper, electronically, on microfilm or microfiche, or in any combination. USCIS recommends keeping them separate from general personnel files so you can pull them fast during an inspection, though that separation is a recommendation, not a legal requirement.9USCIS. Retention and Storage
Electronic storage systems must meet federal standards: controls preventing unauthorized changes, an indexing system that lets you retrieve any employee’s form, the ability to produce legible paper printouts, and a regular quality assurance program.10USCIS. 10.1 Form I-9 and Storage Systems Electronic signatures are allowed for both employees and employers, but the system has to capture an audit trail whenever a form is created, modified, or corrected, recording the date, the person, and what they did.11Federal Register. Electronic Signature and Storage of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Simply viewing a form does not trigger an audit trail entry. Backups are required, and access must be restricted to authorized personnel.
None of this changes the underlying rule. The edition on the form has to have been valid when the form was completed. If it was, keep it until the retention clock runs out. If it wasn’t, you have a violation on file, and fixing it starts with completing a new form on a current edition and noting the correction.