USCIS Form I-9 — used to verify identity and US work authorization for every newly hired employee.
Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) is the US Citizenship and Immigration Services form every employer must complete for each new hire, regardless of the employee's citizenship, to verify identity and authorization to work in the United States. The form was created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) and is enforced by ICE and the DOJ.
The employee completes Section 1 by their first day of work, and the employer must complete Section 2 within three business days of the start date by reviewing original, unexpired identity and work-authorization documents (List A items, or one List B + one List C document) in the employee's physical presence — or via the DHS-approved alternative document examination procedure for E-Verify employers (effective 2023).
Employers must retain I-9s for the longer of 3 years from the date of hire or 1 year after termination, separate from the personnel file. ICE conducts I-9 audits with little notice; substantive errors carry fines from $281 to $2,789 per violation, and knowingly hiring unauthorized workers triggers escalating fines plus possible criminal liability. Modern HR platforms support electronic I-9 completion and storage in compliance with the DHS electronic-records rules.
We complete Form I-9 in the HRIS during onboarding, with the employee uploading their work-authorization documents on day one.
Peoplifi unifies HR, payroll, time tracking, and performance into one modern platform — so concepts like I-9 stay handled, not stuck in spreadsheets.
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