Form I-9 Process & Compliance

Form I-9, the "Employment Eligibility Verification", is a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) form used to verify the identity and legal authorization to work of all paid employees in the United States.

Under Federal law, all US employers must properly complete Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States, as well as verify the identity and employment authorization of each person they hire.

Here's what you need to know about these forms, our system compliance, and your employer responsibilities.

I-9 Forms In Your HRIS Portal

Our system includes the ability to administer employee I-9 Forms through Onboarding (new hires) and Workflows (new or existing employees).

The I-9 Form found in our system is the same form you would find on the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services website and has not been changed or altered in any way. Additionally, it complies with USCIS standards in that it:

• Provides employees instructions for completing the form;
• Creates a legible form;
• Does not make changes to the name, content, or sequence of the data elements and instructions on the USCIS website;
• Does not insert additional data elements or language; and
• Retains generated forms according to the standards specified in 8 CFR 274a.2(e), (f), (g), (h) and (i), as applicable.

Electronic Storage System for Form I-9

In your HRIS Portal, we have implemented a variety of controls to ensure the system's integrity, accuracy, and reliability.

Privacy & Security

First, an employee's I-9 Form can only be accessed by authorized personnel. We do this by assigning roles to each user in the system. You can learn more about authorized roles and security in our system here.

Avoiding Accidental Errors

Next, reasonable controls have been put into place to prevent and detect the unauthorized or accidental creation of, addition to, alteration of, deletion of, or deterioration of an electronically completed or stored Form I-9, including the electronic signature.

Our application security restricts unauthorized creation of and association of an I-9 to an incorrect employee. Additionally, our application prohibits alteration of the I-9 after it is signed.

Indexing System

Our indexing system allows users to identify and retrieve records maintained in the system. Employees have the ability to view and download their submitted Form I-9. 

The system also allows the company administrator to download I-9 forms for all company employees they have authorized access to.

Accessibility

I-9 Forms stored in the system can be printed by authorized users and are legible and readable.

Documenting Your Form I-9 Business Processes

Following USCIS guidelines for Form I-9s, employers who choose to complete or retain these forms electronically must maintain and make available upon request documentation of the business processes that:

• Create, or generate, the retained Form I-9. 
• Modify and maintain the retained Form I-9; and
• Establish the authenticity and integrity of the forms, such as audit trails.

You can find documentation on how to create, or generate, an I-9 Form in your HRIS Portal here.

Modification of retained Form I-9s will be subject to your company-specific processes as our system prohibits alteration of a Form I-9 after it is signed.

Finally, your HRIS Portal provides an audit trail of user actions in the application. This includes I-9 Form generation and completion as a means to establish the authenticity and integrity of these forms.

Electronically Signing I-9 Forms

To comply with USCIS guidelines for Form I-9 electronic signatures, our system:

• Allows individuals to acknowledge that they read the attestation;
• Attaches the electronic signature to the electronically completed Form I-9;
• Affixes the electronic signature and date at the time of the I-9 Form completion;
• Creates and preserves an audit trail verifying the identity of the person producing the signature;
• Provides a printed confirmation of the transaction in the employee's My Files section; and
• Includes a method to acknowledge attestation by asking the user to check an acknowledgment check box after filling out the Form I-9. If the employee does not attest, the I-9 file will not be generated.

Retaining Electronic I-9 Forms Securely

Our system takes the following measures to ensure I-9 security, including: 

• Role-based security to ensure only authorized users have access to these electronic records.
• Backup plans to recover records to protect against information loss.
• An electronic audit trail to create a secure and permanent record when an individual creates, completes, updates, modifies, alters, or corrects an electronic file. The record includes the date of access, the identity of the individual who accessed the electronic record, and the particular action they took. 

Please note that beyond system security measures, USCIS requires employers who retain I-9 Forms electronically to administer training for authorized personnel to minimize the risk of wrongfully or accidentally altering or erasing electronic records; and