How to Complete Form I-9 for a Remote Employee

To complete Form I-9 for a remote employee, you follow the same federal rules as any other hire, with one twist: someone has to look at the employee’s original documents in person, or you have to inspect them by live video if your company uses E-Verify. The employee handles Section 1 by their first day of paid work. You (or a person you designate) handle Section 2 within three business days of that start date. The document inspection step is where remote hires most often go wrong, so that is where most of your attention belongs.

Before you start, confirm you’re on a current edition of the form. The most recent edition date is 01/20/2025. The 08/01/2023 edition remains usable until its printed expiration (07/31/2026 or 05/31/2027, depending on the printing). Electronic I-9 systems must be updated to the 05/31/2027 version by 07/31/2026.¹ An expired form version is a paperwork violation on its own.

Send Section 1 to the Employee Before Day One

Section 1 is the employee’s part. They can complete it any time after accepting the offer, but no later than their first day of work for pay.² For remote hires, sending the form electronically ahead of the start date avoids a scramble on day one.

The employee provides their full legal name (including other last names used, such as a maiden name), current address, date of birth, citizenship or immigration status, and a signature and date. A Social Security number is required if you use E-Verify; otherwise it’s optional. An employee who selects “authorized alien” also enters an alien registration number, Form I-94 admission number, or foreign passport number along with the work authorization expiration date.³

Let the Employee Choose Their Documents

After Section 1, the employee decides which documents to present to prove identity and work authorization. The Department of Homeland Security maintains three lists.⁴

List A documents prove both identity and work authorization on their own. A U.S. passport, passport card, or Permanent Resident Card is common.
If the employee has no List A document, they present one List B document (identity, such as a driver’s license) plus one List C document (work authorization, such as an unrestricted Social Security card).

The choice is the employee’s. You cannot demand specific documents or refuse ones that reasonably appear genuine. More on that below.

Choose a Remote Inspection Method

This is the piece that makes remote hires different. Section 2 requires someone to physically or virtually examine the original documents. You have two options, and which one you can use depends on whether your company participates in E-Verify.

Authorized Representative (Available to Any Employer)

You can designate anyone to act as your authorized representative. That person meets the employee, examines the originals, and completes Section 2 on your behalf. Notaries are a common choice, but the law does not require any certification. A friend, neighbor, or local contact of the employee can serve. No contract or training is legally required.⁵

The representative signs Section 2 in their own name. You, the employer, remain fully liable for anything they get wrong.⁶ Reliability matters more than credentials. Give your representative clear written instructions: examine originals rather than copies, note expiration dates, confirm the photo matches the person in front of them, and watch for signs of tampering.

Live Video Inspection (E-Verify Employers Only)

If your company is enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing, DHS’s alternative procedure lets you inspect documents over a live video call instead of in person. For fully remote teams, this is often the cleaner option.⁷

The steps have to happen in order:

The employee sends you clear front-and-back copies of their chosen documents before the call.
You review those copies to confirm they reasonably appear genuine.
On a live video call, the employee holds up the same original documents so you can compare what you see on camera to the copies already in your hands.
In Section 2’s Additional Information field, check the box indicating you used the alternative procedure.⁷

The alternative procedure has a retention requirement that physical inspection doesn’t: you must keep clear front-and-back copies of every document examined for the full retention period, and produce them during any federal audit.⁷

If you are not in E-Verify, video inspection is not available, and an authorized representative is your only remote option.

Finish Section 2 Within Three Business Days

You or your representative must complete Section 2 within three business days of the employee’s first day of paid work. Start Monday, finish by Thursday. If the job will last fewer than three business days, the entire form has to be finished on day one.⁵

Section 2 records the title, issuing authority, document number, and expiration date for each document presented. The signer attests that the originals were examined and reasonably appear genuine and relate to the employee.⁶ Every blank that should be filled is a potential violation, so read the form carefully before signing.

If a Section 1 or Section 2 error is discovered later, do not use correction fluid, do not erase, and do not backdate. Draw a line through the error, enter the correction, initial, and date it. Section 1 corrections must be made by the employee.⁸

Do Not Ask for Specific Documents

The I-9 process is where good-faith employers most often trip into a discrimination claim. Federal law prohibits three specific practices during document review:

Asking for more documents than the form requires.
Requesting a specific document, such as telling a new hire you want to see their green card.
Rejecting documents that reasonably appear genuine and relate to the person presenting them.

These rules apply regardless of the employee’s citizenship status or national origin.⁹ The Department of Justice’s Immigrant and Employee Rights Section enforces them separately from I-9 paperwork rules.¹⁰

The practical rule: give your new hire the Lists of Acceptable Documents, let them pick, and accept what they present unless something looks obviously off. If you’re using a representative, they need this rule too. Their mistake is your liability.

Store Remote I-9s Properly

You must keep every completed Form I-9 for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later.¹¹ For a remote employee who stays six years, that means seven years after the hire date.

Storage can be paper, microfilm, microfiche, or electronic. Electronic is the norm for remote teams, but a scanned PDF on a shared drive does not meet the federal specs. An acceptable electronic system needs audit trails that log access and modifications, controls that prevent unauthorized changes, an indexing system for retrieval, and the ability to produce legible paper copies on demand.¹² If you are running remote I-9s at any scale, dedicated software is worth the cost.

Re-verify Expiring Work Authorization

Some employees have work authorization with an expiration date. When it approaches, you complete Supplement B (formerly Section 3) to confirm continued eligibility. This applies to anyone who presented a List A or List C document with an expiration date, or who listed an authorization expiration in Section 1.

Give the employee at least 90 days’ notice. They present a new, unexpired List A or List C document. You record it in Supplement B, sign, and date it.¹³

Do not re-verify U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, or lawful permanent residents who originally presented a Permanent Resident Card, even if that card has since expired. Their work authorization does not expire with the card, and re-verifying an exempt employee can itself be a discrimination violation.¹³

What the Stakes Look Like

Paperwork violations, meaning missing forms, blank fields, or late completion, currently run from $288 to $2,861 per form.¹⁴ Knowingly employing an unauthorized worker carries much larger per-worker fines and can escalate to criminal penalties for a pattern of violations.

Good faith matters when penalties are assessed. If an inspector finds technical or procedural errors and you made a genuine effort to comply, you typically get 10 business days to correct them before fines attach. Good faith is also part of the analysis for a knowing-hire charge: if you completed the I-9 process properly and had no actual knowledge that the worker lacked authorization, that defense carries real weight.¹⁵ The paper trail you build by completing the form on time, storing it correctly, and fixing errors the right way is exactly what proves that good faith if you’re ever audited.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 1, Employee Information and Attestation
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 – Employment Eligibility Verification
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 2.0 Who Must Complete Form I-9
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 2, Employer Review and Attestation
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Remote Examination of Documents
8
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Guidance for Employers Conducting Internal Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 Audits
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 11.2 Types of Employment Discrimination Prohibited Under the INA
10
United States Department of Justice. Immigrant and Employee Rights Section
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 10.0 Retaining Form I-9
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 10.1 Form I-9 and Storage Systems
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Supplement B, Reverification and Rehires
14
Federal Register. Civil Monetary Penalty Adjustments for Inflation
15
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Handbook for Employers M-274 11.8 Penalties for Prohibited Practices