On May 1, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending its temporary COVID-19-related exception of allowing employers to use expired List B identity documents for I-9 purposes.
Under Federal Law, employers are required to verify the identity and eligibility of all new hires. Within three days of hire, the employee must present valid identification and eligibility documents to the employer which the employer is required to examine and record on an I-9 form. Normally, at the time the employee provides the documents to the employer, the documents must be valid and unexpired. But, since May 1, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DHS has temporarily allowed employers to accept expired documents from List B on the I-9 form as evidence of identity.
List B identity documents include:
- Driver’s license
- ID card issued by state, federal or local government agencies.
- Voter’s registration card
- School ID card with a photograph
- U.S. military card or draft record
- U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Card
- Military dependent’s ID card
- Driver’s license issued by a Canadian government authority
- Native American tribal document
However, according to the DHS “beginning May 1, 2022, employers may no longer accept expired List B identity documents, such as a driver’s licenses or state-issued identification cards, in the onboarding process. Additionally, employers must have any employees who presented expired List B documents between May 1, 2020 and April 30, 2022 revalidate their I-9 form and present an unexpired identity document. Employees may present a valid unexpired document, a different valid List B document, or a List A document, such as a US passport or permanent (green) card. No action is required for individuals who are no longer employed on May 1, 2022.”
Employers now need to review the I-9s of their current employees who have been hired since May,1 2020 and look for employee identity documents that were expired when presented to them during the hiring process. If expired documents are found, employers must then obtain valid replacement identity documents for the current employees.
