What Are I-9 Supporting Documents? Lists A, B, C and Receipts

I-9 supporting documents come in three lists. List A documents prove both identity and work authorization in one item. List B documents prove identity only, and List C documents prove work authorization only. An employee completing Form I-9 either presents one List A document, or one List B document paired with one List C document.¹ The employee chooses which acceptable documents to show. The employer’s job is to examine what’s offered, not to require a particular one.

How the Three Lists Fit Together

The choice belongs to the employee. An employer who insists on a passport when the worker wants to use a driver’s license and Social Security card is breaking federal anti-discrimination rules, even if the employer thinks they’re being careful.²

Every document must be unexpired and original. The one exception: a certified copy of a birth certificate counts as an original for List C purposes.² Photocopies of anything else are not acceptable. The rule applies equally to U.S. citizens and noncitizens.³

Section 2 of the form is due within three business days after the first day of work for pay. For jobs that will last fewer than three days, it must be done on the first day.⁴

List A: Identity and Work Authorization Together

One document from List A satisfies the entire requirement. The employer should not ask for anything additional. The full list:⁵

U.S. passport or passport card
Permanent Resident Card, Form I-551 (the green card)
Foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp or printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa, serving as temporary evidence of permanent residence
Employment Authorization Document with photograph, Form I-766
Foreign passport with Form I-94 or I-94A containing a work endorsement
Passport from the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands with Form I-94 or I-94A indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association

Some entries are physically two documents that count together as a single List A item. A foreign passport with an attached I-94 is one List A document, not two. When recording any List A document, the employer notes the document title, issuing authority, document number, and expiration date in Section 2.⁶

List B: Identity Only

A List B document proves who you are but says nothing about your right to work. It must be paired with a List C document. The full list:⁵

State-issued driver’s license or ID card containing a photograph or identifying information such as name, date of birth, and address
ID card issued by a federal, state, or local government agency, with a photograph or identifying information
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 Card
Native American tribal document
Driver’s license issued by a Canadian government authority

Workers under 18 who can’t produce any of the standard List B documents have three alternatives: a school record or report card, a clinic or hospital record, or a day-care or nursery school record.⁵

List C: Work Authorization Only

A List C document proves the right to work but does not verify identity, so it must be paired with a List B document. The full list:⁵

Unrestricted Social Security card
Certification of Report of Birth issued by the Department of State, on Form DS-1350, FS-545, or FS-240
Original or certified copy of a birth certificate bearing an official seal, issued by a state, county, municipal authority, or U.S. territory
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 that is not already on List A

The Social Security card requirement trips up more employers than you’d think. Three specific legends make a Social Security card unacceptable for List C: “NOT VALID FOR EMPLOYMENT,” “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH INS AUTHORIZATION,” and “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION.”⁷ If an employee presents a restricted card, the employer must reject it for List C purposes and ask for a different List C document. Accepting a restricted card is a paperwork violation.

Receipts When a Document Is Lost or Pending

Employees sometimes lose documents or have them stolen before starting a new job. Federal rules let the employee present a receipt showing they’ve applied for a replacement, and the receipt temporarily stands in for the missing document. It can substitute for any list: A, B, or C.⁸

The replacement-document receipt is valid for 90 days from the hire date. Before those 90 days run out, the employee must present the actual replacement. When they do, the employer crosses out the word “Receipt” on the form and records the new document’s information in the Additional Information field of Section 2.⁸

A second type of receipt applies specifically to lawful permanent residents: the arrival portion of Form I-94 with a temporary I-551 stamp and photograph. This receipt is valid until the stamp’s expiration date, or one year from the date of admission if there’s no expiration date. The employee must eventually present the actual Permanent Resident Card.

What the Employer Cannot Do

Federal law makes it illegal for an employer to demand more documents than the lists require, or to reject documents that reasonably appear genuine on their face.⁹ Common violations include telling employees they need a green card or passport, rejecting a valid driver’s license because the employer prefers federal IDs, or asking noncitizens for extra proof beyond what the lists call for. Even well-intentioned over-verification is an unfair documentary practice.

The standard for reviewing what an employee presents is what a reasonable person would conclude looking at the document. Employers don’t need to be document-fraud experts. If something looks off, the employer should give the employee a chance to present different acceptable documents rather than refusing to hire them.⁴

When Work Authorization Expires

Some employees have work authorization that carries an expiration date. As that date approaches, the employer must reverify authorization no later than the expiration date itself. The employee presents a current List A or List C document showing renewed authorization, and the employer records the new information on Supplement B of the original Form I-9.¹⁰ Note that reverification uses only List A or List C. List B is not used, because identity does not expire in the same sense that authorization does.

Not every employee needs reverification. U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents don’t have expiring work authorization, so their forms stay as-is indefinitely. Asylees, refugees, and certain Compact of Free Association citizens also have non-expiring authorization, though if one of these employees originally presented a document with an expiration date such as a Form I-766, reverification may still be triggered by that document’s expiration.¹⁰

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
2
eCFR. 8 CFR 274a.2 – Verification of Identity and Employment Authorization
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Completing Section 2, Employer Review and Attestation
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-9 Acceptable Documents
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 13.0 Acceptable Documents for Verifying Employment Authorization and Identity
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Employers – Are You Accepting a Restricted Social Security Card
8
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 4.4 Acceptable Receipts
9
eCFR. 28 CFR 44.200 – Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Reverifying Employment Authorization for Current Employees