Today, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) informed employers that there was a problem with the initial release of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification back in November. The USCIS says that employers should review their form to ensure their employees’ Social Security numbers (SSN) appear correctly in Section 1.
According to the USCIS, there was a glitch when the revised Form I-9 was first published on Nov. 14, 2016. If an employee completed and printed Section 1 using a computer, numbers entered in the SSN field were transposed. For example, the number 123-45-6789 entered in the SSN field would appear as 123-34-6789 once the form was printed.
Although USCIS immediately repaired and reposted the form on Nov. 17, 2016, it did not send out a press release about this issue until April 17, 2017. The USCIS recommends the following:
- Employers will want to check any Form I-9 that was downloaded and given to employees to fill out by computer to see if there is an error with the SSN.
- Employers using a Form I-9 that contains this glitch should also download and save a new Form I-9 at uscis.gov/i-9.
According to the USCIS, employers who notice their employees’ SSN are not written correctly should have their employees draw a line through the transposed number in Section 1, enter the correct SSN, and then initial and date the change.
Employers should include a written explanation with the Form I-9 about why the correction was made in the event of an audit.
Both CalChamber members and nonmembers can also download the repaired Form I-9 in the HR Library. CalChamber members can read Form I-9 Q&As, including the proper way to correct mistakes, in the HR Library. Not a member? Learn more about what HRCalifornia can do for you.
