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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently released a revised version of the I-9 employment eligibility verification form.

Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of each employee who works in the United States, citizens and noncitizens alike, and employers must ensure that Form I-9 is properly completed by both the employer and the employee within three days of hire.

Key changes that appear in the revised Form I-9 are expanded instructions, additional data fields (e.g., the employee’s foreign passport information, if applicable; telephone number; and email address), and an expanded two-page layout.

USCIS has encouraged employers to start using the revised Form I-9 immediately, but the agency understands that some employers may need more time to update their business processes. Therefore, the older version may be used through May 7, 2013, but the revised Form I-9 must be used on May 8, 2013 and thereafter for all new hires. The revised Form I-9 does not need to be – and should not be – completed for existing employees who already have a Form I-9 on file, unless their employment eligibility needs to be re-verified.

As in the past, employers must retain the completed Form I-9 until the later of (i) three years after the employee’s date of hire, or (ii) one year after the date employment ended.

Please click here to access the new form.