Verification of Identity and Employability

Section 1 of Form I-9 is completed by the employee, not the employer. It records the employee’s identifying information and the employee’s attestation of citizenship or immigration status and work authorization. The employee must complete and sign it no later than their first day of work for pay, though they may complete it after accepting the job offer and before starting work.

Section 1 Completion
The city should provide the employee with the current Form I-9 and instructions after the employee has accepted the job offer. The employee is responsible for entering the required information in Section 1, Employee Information and Attestation, and signing and dating the form. The city may help explain the form or provide the official instructions, but it should not tell the employee which citizenship or immigration-status box to select, request particular documents at this stage, or complete the employee’s attestation for the employee.

Information the Employee Provides
The employee must enter:

• Full legal name, including any applicable middle initial.
• Other legal last names used, such as a maiden name, if applicable.
• Current residential address, including apartment number if applicable; a P.O. box alone is not sufficient.
• Date of birth.
• Citizenship or immigration status by selecting one of the four attestation categories:
  • A U.S. citizen.
  • A noncitizen national of the United States.
  • A lawful permanent resident.
  • A noncitizen authorized to work in the United States.
• If the employee selects lawful permanent resident or noncitizen authorized to work, the applicable required immigration-document information and, where applicable, the employment-authorization expiration date.
• Signature and date.

An employee who has two family names or two given names should enter both. An employee with only one name enters it in the Last Name field and enters “Unknown” in the First Name field.

Optional Information
The employee’s email address and telephone number are optional. The employee may leave those fields blank if they do not wish to provide them. The Social Security number is also generally optional for Form I-9 purposes. However, it is required if the city participates in E-Verify, because it is necessary to create the E-Verify case.

Preparer or Translator
An employee may use a preparer or translator to complete or translate Section 1. If anyone assists, the employee must still sign and date Section 1. Each person who helped must complete and sign a separate certification in Supplement A, Preparer and/or Translator Certification for Section 1.

If no preparer or translator assisted the employee, the city should ensure that no preparer/translator certification is completed.Federal law requires employers to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for each person hired to work in the United States. The employee must complete Section 1 of Form I-9 no later than the employee’s first day of employment, but not before accepting an offer of employment.

The city must complete Section 2, Employer Review and Verification, within three business days after the employee’s first day of employment for pay. If employment will last fewer than three business days, Section 2 must be completed no later than the employee’s first day of employment for pay.

Examining documents
The city must examine the document or documents presented by the employee to determine whether they reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the person presenting them. The city is not required to be a document expert, but it must reject documents that do not reasonably appear to be genuine, do not appear to relate to the employee, or are not included on the Form I-9 Lists of Acceptable Documents.

The employee must present either:

• One unexpired document from List A, which establishes both identity and employment authorization; or
• One unexpired document from List B, which establishes identity, and one unexpired document from List C, which establishes employment authorization.

The city may not require an employee to present a specific document. If the employee presents acceptable List A documentation, the city may not request additional List B or List C documentation. If the employee presents acceptable List B and List C documentation, the city may not require List A documentation.

The city must return original documents to the employee after examination.

Physical examination and remote review
In most cases, the city or its authorized representative must physically examine the employee’s original documents. However, a city that participates in E-Verify and is in good standing may choose to use USCIS’s optional alternative procedure for remote document examination. To use that procedure, the city must:

• Examine clear and legible copies of the employee’s documents, including both sides of a two-sided document.
• Conduct a live video interaction with the employee.
• Ensure the employee presents the same documents during the live video interaction that were provided in copy form.
• Determine that the documents reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the employee.
• Indicate on Form I-9 that the alternative procedure was used.
• Retain clear and legible copies of the documents examined.

A city that is not enrolled in E-Verify, is not in good standing, or does not use the optional alternative procedure must physically examine the employee’s original documents.

Completing Section 2
After examining the documents, the city must complete Section 2 of Form I-9 by recording the required document information, including:

• The document title.
• The issuing authority.
• The document number.
• The expiration date, if any.
• The employee’s first day of employment for pay.
• The city representative’s signature and date.
• The city’s business name and address.

By signing Section 2, the city representative attests that the city examined the document or documents presented by the employee, either through physical examination or through the authorized alternative procedure, and that the documents reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the employee.

Cities should:

• Use the current Form I-9 and current Lists of Acceptable Documents.
• Allow employees to choose which acceptable documents to present.
• Complete Section 2 within the required deadline.
• Use an authorized representative when the city cannot complete the examination directly. The city remains responsible for errors made by an authorized representative.
• Apply the same document-review process consistently to all new hires.

• Retain Forms I-9 separately from general personnel files and make them available only as required for lawful inspection.