Form I-9 for Employers: Section 1, Section 2 and Supplements
Updated 12 min read
The form, page by page
Page 1
Section 1 and Section 2
Employee, then you
Section 1 by day one; Section 2 within 3 business days after it
Page 2
Lists of Acceptable Documents
Read by the employee
No need to keep it in the file
Page 3
Supplement A, Preparer and/or Translator
Anyone who helped with Section 1
At the time Section 1 is completed
Page 4
Supplement B, Reverification and Rehire
You or your authorized representative
By the date work authorization expires, or at rehire
Kept by you, never filed with USCIS or ICE. Source: uscis.gov/i-9, read October 22, 2026.
Form I-9 is the record that you checked who a new hire is and that they may work in the United States. Every employee you put on the payroll needs one, including the person who leaves soon after hire. The rule reaches everyone hired after November 6, 1986 (on or after November 27, 2009 in the Northern Mariana Islands).
Use the edition dated 01/20/25 (the one that expires 05/31/2027). USCIS also accepts the 08/01/23 printing that carries the same 05/31/2027 expiration date; the 08/01/23 printing marked 07/31/2026 is no longer valid. If you complete the form in software, the vendor had to move to the 05/31/2027 version by July 31, 2026. Ask them to confirm it in writing if your screens still show the older date.
You keep the form. It is never mailed to USCIS or ICE; an inspector asks for it and you produce it, with at least three business days' notice.
Section 1: the employee's part
The employee completes Section 1 no later than their first day of work, and never before they have accepted your offer. You may not hand Section 1 to a candidate who is still deciding.
8 CFR § 274a.2(b)(1)(i)(A); M-274 § 3.0
Section 1 is the employee's attestation: their own details, a signature, and one of four boxes about their status. Your job is to see it is finished on time and that the employee signed it. The status they tick decides whether you will ever see this form again for reverification.
| Status box in Section 1 | What it means for you later |
|---|---|
| A citizen of the United States | Never reverified |
| A noncitizen national of the United States | Never reverified |
| A lawful permanent resident | Not reverified when the Green Card expires |
| An alien authorized to work | Reverify by the date their authorization expires, if one is given |
The Social Security number field is optional, unless you use E-Verify; then every employee must give it. Even then you cannot ask for a particular card or document that shows the number. And you may not ask for documents to back up what the employee wrote in Section 1: the documents come in Section 2, and the employee picks them.
If the date the employee writes for the end of their work authorization differs from the date on the document they later show you, you will reverify by the earlier of the two. The reverification date calculator takes both dates and gives you that day.
What to do
- Send Section 1 with the offer acceptance, not with the application.
- Check on day one that it is complete and signed; ask the employee to fix gaps themselves.
- Ask for the Social Security number only as a field on the form, never as a specific card.
Section 2: your part, within three business days
Examine the documents and complete Section 2 within three business days after the first day of work. Day one does not count: start on Monday, finish by Thursday. You may complete it earlier, any time after the offer is accepted.
8 CFR § 274a.2(b)(1)(ii); M-274 § 4.0
Monday
Day one
Section 1 done by today; work for pay starts
Tuesday
Business day 1
Documents may be examined
Wednesday
Business day 2
Documents may be examined
Thursday
Business day 3
Section 2 complete by today
Friday
Late
Section 2 is now overdue
Two exceptions change the clock. A job that lasts less than three business days needs Section 2 done by the first day, and for that job you may not accept a receipt in place of a document. And an employee who brings nothing acceptable by the third business day may be let go, the handbook says, so put the date in the offer letter. The I-9 deadline calculator gives the exact date for any start day.
Examining the documents
The employee chooses what to show: one document from List A, or one from List B plus one from List C. You may not name a document, ask for more than the form requires, or turn away an acceptable one because you would prefer another. Original, unexpired documents only, examined with the employee in front of you; photocopies are not acceptable, except a certified copy of a birth certificate. Accept a document that reasonably appears to be genuine and to relate to the person presenting it. You are checking, not running a forensic lab.
A receipt for a lost, stolen or damaged document is good for 90 days from the hire date; the employee then shows the replacement or another acceptable document. A receipt for a first-time work permit application is not acceptable, and a second receipt at the end of the 90 days is not accepted either.
Run anything unusual through the I-9 document checker before you reject it. E-Verify employers get one extra rule: a List B document must carry a photograph. Nothing else about the employee's choice changes.
| Field in Section 2 | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Document title, issuing authority, number, expiration date | From each document shown: List A on the left, or List B and List C |
| First Day of Employment | The first day of work for wages or other pay |
| Your name and title | The person who examined the documents, and nobody else |
| Business name and address | A physical street address; a P.O. box is not accepted |
| Additional Information | Notes such as a replacement receipt, an authorization extension or an E-Verify notation |
| Alternative procedure box | Only when you examined documents remotely as an E-Verify employer |
The person who looked at the documents signs Section 2. If that is a store manager, a notary or a vendor acting for you, they are your authorized representative, and you stay liable for their mistakes. The authorized representative guide covers who can do it and how to brief them.
What to do
- Put the Section 2 date on the onboarding calendar the day the offer is accepted.
- Show the employee the lists and let them choose; never ask for a specific document.
- Have the person who examined the documents sign, the same day if you can.
Supplement A: preparers and translators
Some new hires need help reading or filling in Section 1. A preparer or translator may help them. The employee still signs or marks Section 1 personally, and every person who helped completes their own certification block in Supplement A, one block per helper.
Supplement A is only for help with Section 1. If nobody helped, leave it blank and do not keep the blank page; you only keep the pages with entries on them.
Minors without an identity document are a special case: a parent or legal guardian may establish identity, and that person completes Section 1 and Supplement A. E-Verify employers cannot use this route, so the minor shows a List A document or a List B document with a photograph plus List C. The I-9 document checker sorts out which combinations work.
Supplement B: reverification and rehire
Supplement B, the old Section 3, is where the form comes back to life after the first week. You use it for two jobs: reverifying an employee whose permission to work runs out, and updating the form when you rehire someone.
Reverify no later than the date the employee's work authorization expires. When the Section 1 date and the Section 2 document date differ, use the earlier one. USCIS suggests warning the employee at least 90 days ahead; that is a suggestion, not a rule.
8 CFR § 274a.2(b)(1)(vii); M-274 § 6.0
| Situation | Supplement B |
|---|---|
| U.S. citizens and noncitizen nationals | Never reverified |
| Lawful permanent residents who showed a Green Card | Not when the card expires |
| A U.S. passport or passport card that expires | Not reverified |
| Any List B document that expires | Not reverified |
| An EAD or other List A/C work document that expires | Reverify by the earlier expiration date |
At reverification the employee shows a document from List A or List C that proves current permission to work, an unrestricted Social Security card included; List B proves identity only, so it plays no part. You record the document in Supplement B, sign, and keep the page with the original form. E-Verify employers do not open a new case for a reverification.
An EAD renewal filed on or after October 30, 2025 no longer extends an expiring card, so reverify by the card's expiration date unless a Federal Register notice (such as a TPS notice) extends it. Renewals filed before that date may still carry up to 540 days. A renewal receipt dated on or after October 30, 2025 does not buy extra time.
8 CFR § 274a.13(d); 90 FR 48799; 91 FR 65306
One more clock runs for some visa holders. An employee in one of the listed employer-specific classes, H-1B among them, whose extension of stay was filed on time may keep working for you for up to 240 days from the day the old stay expired, unless USCIS denies the petition first. The reverification date calculator handles the EAD cut-off and the 240-day count.
Rehiring a former employee within three years of the date their original form was completed? You may complete Supplement B of that form with the rehire date (and reverify if their document has expired) instead of starting a new one. A new form is always allowed too, and it is often the cleaner file.
What to do
- Keep a list of every expiring work document, with the earlier of the two dates.
- Warn the employee early; 90 days is the USCIS suggestion.
- Never reverify a Green Card, a U.S. passport or a List B document.
Remote hires: two lawful routes
A new hire who never visits the office still needs Section 2 within three business days. There are two ways to do it, and only one of them is open to every employer.
| Point compared | Authorized representative | DHS alternative procedure |
|---|---|---|
| Who may use it | Any employer | E-Verify employers in good standing, at their E-Verify hiring sites |
| How documents are seen | In person, by your representative | Copies first, then a live video call |
| What you keep | The form | The form plus clear copies of the documents |
| Box on the form | None | The alternative procedure box in Section 2 or Supplement B |
With a representative, anyone you choose (a notary, a colleague near the employee, a vendor's network) examines the originals in person and signs Section 2 for you. A notary acting this way should not stamp a seal. With the alternative procedure, you examine copies, then hold a live video call where the employee shows the same documents, tick the box on the form and keep the copies. If you offer it at a site, offer it to everyone there; you may limit it to remote hires as long as the reason is not discriminatory.
The remote I-9 guide walks through the video step, and the remote I-9 services compared page lists the firms that supply representatives.
Completing the form electronically
You may complete and keep Form I-9 in software instead of on paper, but the system has to do four things the regulation spells out. We found no federal program that certifies or approves I-9 software, so the proof is what the vendor documents and what its audit trail records.
- Reasonable controls that guard each form against unauthorized or accidental changes.
- A record of every access and change: the date, who opened the form and what they did.
- Written documentation of your business process, such as audit trails.
- E-signatures that confirm the signer read the attestation, and a printed confirmation for the employee on request.
8 CFR § 274a.2(e)–(i)
An inspector may ask for the forms together with their audit trails, so a tool that cannot export them is a problem waiting for its first audit. The I-9 and E-Verify software comparison sets the main vendors against these four requirements, as each one describes its system.
How long to keep it
Keep a former employee's form until three years after the hire date or one year after their last day, whichever comes later. Never dispose of a current employee's form.
8 CFR § 274a.2(b)(2)(i)(A)
| Employee | Which date wins | Keep until |
|---|---|---|
| Hired 2024-03-04, left 2025-01-10 | Three years after hire is later | 2027-03-04 |
| Hired 2019-06-03, left 2026-09-30 | One year after leaving is later | 2027-09-30 |
| Still on the payroll | Keep it while they work for you | No end date yet |
USCIS gives a rule of thumb: under two years on the payroll, keep it three years from the first day; more than two years, one year after they leave. The I-9 retention calculator does the date arithmetic for a whole list. Keep only the pages with entries on them. Copying the employee's documents is optional, but if you copy for one person for reasons unrelated to E-Verify, copy for everyone and keep the copies with the form.
Store the forms so you can hand them over within three business days: that is the minimum notice before a government inspection.
Fixing mistakes on a form
Mistakes happen; the rule is to fix them in the open. Only the employee (or their preparer or translator) corrects Section 1. Only you or your authorized representative correct Section 2 and Supplement B.
Draw a line through the wrong entry, write the correct one, and initial and date the change; attach a short note explaining it. A missing Section 2 date gets today's date and your initials, never a backdate. Never erase or use correction fluid. For a form with substantial errors, complete a new section or a new form and keep it with the old one.
USCIS Handbook for Employers M-274 § 9.0
Paperwork violations currently run $288 to $2,861 per form (the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts, still in force in 2026). The size of the business, good faith, the seriousness of the violation and any history all weigh in the amount.
8 CFR § 274a.10(b)(2); 28 CFR § 68.52
No law requires an internal audit, but it is the cheapest way to find errors before an inspector does. Review all the forms or a sample chosen on neutral criteria, never by nationality or accent. The I-9 audit checklist walks the form field by field, and the I-9 penalties guide sets out the full fine table.
What to do
- Correct with a single line, initials and today's date, plus a written note.
- Purge forms on their retention date, and only then.
- Audit on a set schedule, choosing forms on neutral criteria.
Quick reference
- Edition to use
- 01/20/25 (expires 05/31/2027)uscis.gov/i-9
- Section 1
- By the first day of work, after the offer is accepted8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(i)(A)
- Section 2
- Within 3 business days after day one8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(ii)
- Job under 3 business days
- Section 2 by day one; no receipts8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(iii)
- Replacement-document receipt
- Good for 90 days from hire8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(vi)
- Reverification
- By the date work authorization expires8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(vii)
- EAD renewals filed on or after 2025-10-30
- No automatic extension90 FR 48799
- Rehire on the old form
- Within 3 years of its completion8 CFR 274a.2(c)(1)
- Keep a former employee's form
- Later of hire + 3 years, last day + 1 year8 CFR 274a.2(b)(2)(i)(A)
- Notice before an inspection
- At least 3 business days8 CFR 274a.2(b)(2)(ii)
- Paperwork penalty per form
- $288 to $2,8618 CFR 274a.10(b)(2)
Questions employers ask
When is Section 2 of Form I-9 due?
Within three business days after the employee's first day of work. The first day itself does not count, so a Monday start is due by Thursday. The deadline calculator counts it for any date.
Can I tell a new hire which documents to bring?
No. Show them the Lists of Acceptable Documents and let them choose: one List A document, or one from List B and one from List C. E-Verify employers may only add that a List B document must have a photo.
Do I file Form I-9 with USCIS?
No. You keep it in your own files and produce it if the government inspects, with at least three business days' notice.
Can Section 2 be completed remotely?
Yes, two ways: an authorized representative examines the originals in person for you, or, if you are an E-Verify employer in good standing, you use the DHS alternative procedure with copies and a live video call.
What is Supplement B used for?
Reverifying an employee whose work authorization expires, and recording a rehire within three years of the original form. It replaced what older editions called Section 3.
Do I need to reverify a Green Card holder when the card expires?
No. An expiring Permanent Resident Card, U.S. passport or List B document never triggers reverification.
Can I fill in Form I-9 electronically?
Yes, in a system that guards the forms against unauthorized changes, logs every access and change, documents your process and captures e-signatures the way 8 CFR 274a.2 requires. We found no federal program that certifies the software, so check what the vendor documents.