How to Get an I-9: Download, Complete, and Store the Form

To get a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, download it free from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website at uscis.gov.¹ Every employer in the United States must complete one for each person they hire, whether the new hire is a U.S. citizen or a noncitizen. The requirement traces back to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which put the burden on employers to confirm that everyone on their payroll is authorized to work in the country.² The form has three parts: one the employee fills out, one the employer fills out, and a supplement used for reverification or rehires.

Downloading the Current Edition

The only official source for Form I-9 is uscis.gov. USCIS publishes a fillable PDF that accepts typed entries in most fields, though signature blocks still require a handwritten signature on the printed page. The current edition date is 01/20/25, printed at the bottom of the form. Previous editions dated 08/01/23 remain valid through the expiration date shown in the upper corner.¹ Using an expired edition during an audit is treated as a violation, so check the expiration date before you start filling one out.

USCIS also publishes a Spanish version, but only employers in Puerto Rico may submit it as the official completed form. Everywhere else in the United States, the completed form has to be the English version. The Spanish version can still be handed to an employee as a translation aid.³

Filling Out Section 1 as the Employee

Section 1 belongs to the employee. You must complete and sign it no later than your first day of work, and you can do it earlier if you have already accepted the job offer.³ The form asks for your full legal name, any other last names you’ve used (a maiden name, for example), your current address, and your date of birth.⁴

Social Security number, email, and phone number are optional. One exception: if your employer uses E-Verify, your Social Security number is required.⁴

You then check one box for your immigration status:

U.S. citizen
Noncitizen national of the United States
Lawful permanent resident, with your USCIS Number or Alien Registration Number
Alien authorized to work, with the expiration date of your work authorization (if any) and a USCIS Number, Form I-94 Admission Number, or foreign passport number with country of issuance

Your signature at the bottom is an attestation under penalty of perjury that everything you entered is true.⁵

If Someone Helps You Fill It Out

You still sign Section 1 yourself, even if a translator or preparer walks you through it. Each person who assists you completes a separate certification block on Supplement A with their name, address, and signature. The date on your signature and on the preparer’s signature should match. Your employer keeps Supplement A attached to your Form I-9.⁴

Completing Section 2 as the Employer

Section 2 is where the employer verifies the new hire’s identity and work authorization by examining original documents. You must complete it within three business days of the employee’s first day of work. If someone starts on Monday, Section 2 is due by Thursday. When a job lasts three business days or fewer, Section 2 has to be finished on the first day.³

An authorized representative can stand in for the employer for this task: a manager, an HR officer, a notary public, or anyone the employer designates. The representative performs all of the employer’s duties, reviewing Section 1 and completing Section 2. A notary acting in this role is not acting in a notary capacity and should not stamp the form with a notary seal. And no employee can serve as their own authorized representative.⁶

How the Document Lists Work

The employee chooses which documents to present from three lists that USCIS maintains. There are two paths: one document from List A, which proves identity and work authorization together, or one document from List B (identity only) combined with one from List C (work authorization only).³

List A includes items like a U.S. passport or passport card, a Permanent Resident Card, and an Employment Authorization Document with a photo. List B covers identity documents such as a state driver’s license or ID card with a photo, a school ID with a photo, a voter registration card, a U.S. military card, or a Native American tribal document. List C covers work authorization documents including an unrestricted Social Security card, a U.S. birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, and certain employment authorization documents issued by DHS.⁷

Every document must be unexpired and must reasonably appear genuine and relate to the person presenting it. The employer records the document title, issuing authority, document number, and expiration date. If a document has no expiration date, enter “N/A.”⁶

Do Not Tell the Employee Which Documents to Bring

This is where employers get into trouble more than almost anywhere else on the form. You cannot tell an employee which documents to show. You cannot ask a lawful permanent resident specifically for a green card, or tell someone they need to bring a passport. The employee picks any valid combination from the lists, and you accept it. Requesting specific documents or rejecting unfamiliar but valid ones counts as document abuse and can trigger discrimination penalties.⁸

When the Employee Presents a Receipt

Sometimes an employee doesn’t have the actual document because the original was lost, stolen, or damaged, and a replacement is in progress. You can accept a receipt showing the employee applied for a replacement. The receipt is valid for 90 days from the hire date, and before that window closes the employee must present the actual replacement document or a different acceptable document.⁹ If the job itself lasts three business days or fewer, receipts are not allowed.

Remote Document Review for E-Verify Employers

Since August 2023, employers who participate in E-Verify and remain in good standing can review documents remotely through a live video call instead of examining them in person.¹⁰ The steps:

The employee sends the employer copies of their documents (front and back, if two-sided).
The employer and employee connect over live video, and the employee holds up the same documents on camera.
The employer examines the documents during the call to confirm they appear genuine and match the person presenting them.
The employer keeps clear, legible copies of every document reviewed.

Only employers enrolled in E-Verify at every hiring site that uses the alternative qualify. If the employer loses good standing, the remote option goes away.¹¹ Employers not in E-Verify must still examine documents in person.

Storing the Completed Form

After completing the form, keep it for whichever period is longer: three years from the date of hire, or one year after the employee’s last day of work. You can store I-9s on paper, electronically, or on microfilm. If officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Labor, or the Department of Justice ask to inspect them, you must make them available.¹ A practical habit: keep I-9s separate from personnel files so you can produce them during an audit without handing over unrelated records.

Reverification and Rehires With Supplement B

When an employee’s work authorization is about to expire, the employer must reverify on or before the expiration date using Supplement B, previously known as Section 3. The trigger is whichever comes first: the work authorization expiration date the employee entered in Section 1, or the expiration date on the List A or List C document recorded in Section 2.³

Not everyone needs reverification. U.S. citizens and noncitizen nationals never do. Lawful permanent residents who presented a Permanent Resident Card don’t need it even if the card itself expires, because permanent resident status doesn’t expire. And List B identity documents like driver’s licenses are never reverified when they expire.

Supplement B also covers rehires. If you rehire someone within three years of the original Form I-9 and their work authorization is still valid, you can complete Supplement B and attach it to the original form. Rehires outside that three-year window need a brand-new Form I-9.³

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Most I-9 problems during audits are not fraud, they are sloppy paperwork. USCIS sees the same errors repeatedly:¹²

Blank fields in Section 2 for the document title, issuing authority, number, or expiration date.
Section 2 finished after the three-business-day deadline.
Missing employer information such as business name, address, hire date, or the representative’s signature and printed name.
Reverification skipped before an employee’s work authorization expired.
Section 1 not signed or dated by the employee on time.

Running a periodic self-audit catches these before an inspector does. When you find a mistake, draw a single line through the wrong information, write the correction next to it, and initial and date the change. Do not use correction fluid, and do not backdate a form. Auditors treat both as red flags, and paperwork violations carry their own fines even when every employee turns out to be authorized.¹³

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Statutes and Regulations
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 1, Employee Information and Attestation
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 2, Employer Review and Attestation
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 1.0 Why Employers Must Verify Employment Authorization and Identity of New Employees
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 4.4 Acceptable Receipts
10
Federal Register. Optional Alternative 1 to the Physical Document Examination Associated With Employment Eligibility Verification (Form I-9)
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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Remote Examination of Documents (Optional Alternative Procedure to Physical Document Examination)
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Self-Audits and Correcting Mistakes
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Penalties for Prohibited Practices