The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)  finally released the new Employment Eligibility Verification, Form I-9. You might recall that the USCIS published a draft of the new I-9 form almost a year ago. After reviewing over 6,000 comments on the proposed form, it was finally released this month.

Here are some of the changes to new form:

  •  The new I-9 form is now two pages
  • The instructions are expanded
  • There are new fields for e-mail address, phone number and foreign passport in Section 1.
  • The instructions are longer

While the new I-9 form is longer, it’s intended purpose was to make it easier for employers to complete. We shall see.

The new I-9 form should be used immediately, but USCIS will allow you to continue to use the latest versions of the I-9 form (rev. 08/07/09Y and 02/02/09N) until May 6, 2013. In the case of reverification or rehires, the new version of the I-9 form must be used.