Remote I-9 Verification: The DHS Alternative Procedure
Updated 10 min read
Who may examine I-9 documents remotely
- Available since
- August 1, 202388 FR 47749
- Who may use it
- E-Verify employers in good standing88 FR 47749, § IV.B
- Where
- At their E-Verify hiring sitesM-274 § 4.5
- How documents are seen
- Copies first, then a live video call88 FR 47749, § IV.A
- On the form
- The alternative-procedure boxSection 2 or Supplement B
- Kept
- Clear copies of every document88 FR 47749, § II.B
- Required
- Never. It is optional88 FR 47749, § IV.D
The default rule has not changed. You, or someone acting for you, examine each original document to see that it reasonably appears genuine and relates to the person, and in general that happens in the employee's physical presence. The regulation, 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(ix), lets the Secretary of Homeland Security authorize another way by a Federal Register notice. The notice that did so, published July 25, 2023, made remote examination available from August 1, 2023, to one group of employers only.
A participant in good standing is an employer that “has enrolled in E-Verify with respect to all hiring sites in the United States that use the alternative procedure; is in compliance with all requirements of the E-Verify program, including but not limited to verifying the employment eligibility of newly hired employees in the United States; and continues to be enrolled and a participant in good standing in E-Verify at any time during which the employer uses the alternative procedure.”
DHS notice 88 FR 47749 (July 25, 2023), § IV.B
Read the last clause twice. Good standing is not a badge you earn at enrollment; it has to be true on every day you use the procedure. An employer that stops creating cases for new hires, or creates them late as a habit, is not in compliance with E-Verify, and every remote examination done in that state is open to challenge. The case rules themselves are in E-Verify for employers.
Not enrolled? Then a video call does not satisfy Section 2, however good the camera. Your choices are to enroll in E-Verify, or to have an authorized representative examine the originals in person near the employee.
What to do
- Confirm the hire's worksite is listed as a hiring site in your E-Verify account.
- Check that every new hire there has a case, created on time, before you rely on the procedure.
- If you are not enrolled, plan an in-person representative, or enrollment, before the start date.
The procedure, step by step
- 01
Examine copies of the documents
Front and back if two-sided, or an acceptable receipt. The employee sends them first.
- 02
Hold a live video interaction
The employee shows the same documents on camera; you check they look genuine and relate to the person.
- 03
Tick the alternative-procedure box
Section 2 for a new hire; Supplement B for reverification or rehire.
- 04
Keep clear, legible copies
Front and back, with the Form I-9, paper or electronic.
- 05
Produce them at an inspection
Make the copies available to a federal official who audits your Forms I-9.
DHS notice 88 FR 47749, § IV.A; M-274 § 4.5
The steps happen “within three business days of an employee's first day of employment”, the same deadline as any Section 2. Start Monday, finish by Thursday.
88 FR 47749, § IV.A; 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(ii)
The order is the point. The employee transmits copies first, so you have something to examine closely, then shows the same documents live so you can see that they match the person on the call. A video call with no copies, or copies with no live call, is not the procedure. A recorded clip is not a live interaction.
Ask the employee to tilt each document toward the camera. E-Verify's fraud-awareness training, which the notice relies on, covers examining documents at various angles to spot common anomalies, and the notice says that applies to remote examination as well. If the document on screen does not match the copy, or does not reasonably appear genuine, treat it as you would at a desk.
The box sits in Section 2 on the 01/20/25 and 08/01/23 editions of Form I-9, and in Supplement B for reverification and rehires. Whoever examined the documents completes and signs Section 2. A third-party vendor can do all of it as your authorized representative; you stay liable for what they do.
What to do
- Send the employee written instructions: which documents are acceptable, how to send copies, when the call is.
- Schedule the call for day one or two, so a bad connection still leaves time.
- Tick the box before you sign, and attach the copies the same day.
Offer it consistently
If you offer the procedure to new employees at an E-Verify hiring site, you must do so consistently for all employees at that site. You may offer it to remote hires only and keep physical examination for onsite and hybrid staff, as long as you do not adopt that practice for a discriminatory purpose or treat employees differently because of citizenship, immigration status or national origin.
88 FR 47749, § IV.E; M-274 § 4.5
So the line you draw has to be about where people work, not who they are. “Fully remote hires at this site get the video route” is a policy. “We do video for most people but want to see some documents in person” is how a discrimination charge starts. Write the policy down per hiring site before the first remote hire.
The employee can always opt out the other way. The notice says employers “must allow employees who are unable or unwilling to submit documentation using the alternative procedure to submit documentation for physical examination”. Using it is optional for you too: nothing stops you from examining documents in person.
What to keep
| Record | For whom | How long |
|---|---|---|
| The Form I-9, box ticked | Every hire | 3 years after hire or 1 year after employment ends, whichever is later |
| Clear copies of every document examined remotely | Only employees examined under the procedure | With the form, for the same period |
| Copies of U.S. passport, passport card, Green Card, EAD | E-Verify employers, in-person examination | With the form, if the employee presented one |
The procedure adds one record: a clear and legible copy, front and back, of every document the employee presented for remote examination. That is stricter than the ordinary E-Verify rule, which only requires copies of a U.S. passport, passport card, Permanent Resident Card or Employment Authorization Document when the employee presents one. The extra copies are what an auditor uses to judge whether your remote examination was reasonable.
The rule applies only to people you examined remotely, not to your whole workforce. The copies live with the Form I-9, on paper, electronically, or both, and go when the form goes. Our I-9 retention calculator gives the purge date for each form.
A missing copy or an unticked box is a paperwork problem on that Form I-9. Paperwork penalties currently run $288 to $2,861 per form (2025 inflation-adjusted amounts, still in force in 2026). The full table is in Form I-9 penalties and fines.
8 CFR 274a.10(b)(2); 28 CFR 68.52
What to do
- Store the copies in the same file as the form, never in the video tool or an email thread.
- Purge copies with the form, on the form's date.
The E-Verify case and the training
Every new hire at an enrolled site still gets an E-Verify case, “whether or not the alternative procedure is used”, no later than the third business day after the employee starts work for pay.
E-Verify User Manual § 1.5; 88 FR 47749, § IV.C
Remote examination does not replace the case; it depends on it. E-Verify is what lets DHS accept a video in place of your hands on the card: it checks the Social Security number, requires a photo on List B documents, and sends back the official photo for a passport, Green Card or EAD so you can compare it. Reverification is the exception: when you reverify on Supplement B, remotely or not, you do not create a new case. The I-9 and E-Verify deadline calculator gives the Section 2 and case dates together.
On training, the notice requires employers who enroll, and every user who manages or creates cases, to complete E-Verify's tutorial with its fraud-awareness and anti-discrimination training. The E-Verify manual adds that users must pass the tutorial before they can create or manage cases. The person who holds the video call is not always an E-Verify user, so brief them yourself on the same two points: how to look for document anomalies, and never to ask for a specific document.
What to do
- Create the case from the finished form within the three business days.
- Keep a record that each case user finished the tutorial.
- Give whoever runs the video call the document rules in writing.
The other route: a representative in person
| Point compared | Authorized representative | DHS alternative procedure |
|---|---|---|
| Who may use it | Any employer | E-Verify employers in good standing, at E-Verify hiring sites |
| Who examines | Your representative, in person | You or your representative, by live video |
| Documents seen | Originals, in hand | Copies first, then the same documents on camera |
| Extra records | None beyond the form | Clear copies of every document |
| Box on the form | None | Alternative procedure, Section 2 or Supplement B |
| E-Verify case | Only if you are enrolled | Required for every new hire at the site |
Every employer, enrolled in E-Verify or not, can have someone else examine the originals in the employee's physical presence and sign Section 2. M-274 lets you “designate, hire, or contract with any person you choose”: a colleague near the employee, a notary acting outside their notary role, or a vendor's network. USCIS asks for no contract, and you stay liable for the representative's mistakes. Our guide to the Form I-9 authorized representative covers the briefing, the notary questions and the Section 2 fields.
- Not enrolled in E-Verify, or the worksite is not an E-Verify hiring site: a representative in person.
- Enrolled and in good standing, and you offer it to every hire at that site (or every remote hire there): the video route.
- The employee cannot or will not use video: physical examination, by you or a representative.
88 FR 47749, §§ IV.B, IV.E
Many employers use both. A fully remote company enrolled in E-Verify runs the video route as its default and keeps a representative for the hire who asks to show documents in person. Services that run either route for you are in remote I-9 verification services compared, and the I-9 tools that track the box and the copies are in the best I-9 software comparison.
What to do
- Pick the route per hiring site, in writing, before the first remote hire.
- Keep a representative option ready for anyone who asks for in-person examination.
- Whichever route, get the finished form back inside the three business days.
- Available since
- August 1, 202388 FR 47749
- Authority
- 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(ix)DHS notice, July 25, 2023
- Who qualifies
- E-Verify employers in good standing88 FR 47749, § IV.B
- Deadline
- 3 business days after the first day88 FR 47749, § IV.A
- Document check
- Copies, then live videoM-274 § 4.5
- Form I-9
- Box in Section 2 or Supplement BM-274 § 4.5
- Copies kept
- Every document, front and back88 FR 47749, § II.B
- Consistency
- All employees at the site, or all remote hires88 FR 47749, § IV.E
- E-Verify case
- Every new hire at the site88 FR 47749, § IV.C
- Expires
- No; DHS may amend or cancel88 FR 47749, § IV.J
Questions employers ask
Can an employer that is not in E-Verify do a remote I-9 over video?
No. The alternative procedure is limited to E-Verify participants in good standing. Everyone else examines the originals in the employee's physical presence, directly or through an authorized representative.
Can a third-party vendor run the video call for us?
Yes. DHS and USCIS both say the procedure may be performed by an authorized representative acting for you, such as a third-party vendor. The person who examined the documents signs Section 2, and you stay liable for the form.
Does the video call have to be recorded?
The notice requires a live video interaction and clear copies of the documents; it does not list a recording among the records to keep. What you must be able to produce at an inspection is the form and the copies.
Can I use it for reverification or a rehire?
Yes. Tick the box in Supplement B. For reverification, do not create a new E-Verify case. The reverification calculator gives the date to reverify by.
What if a new hire refuses to do it by video?
You must let an employee who is unable or unwilling to use the procedure present documents for physical examination. Arrange an in-person check with you or a representative, inside the same three business days.
Can I apply it to people hired before August 1, 2023?
Generally no. The one exception covered COVID-19-era remote inspections: employers enrolled in E-Verify at the time, who created a case and inspected remotely between March 20, 2020 and July 31, 2023, could use the procedure to satisfy the physical examination. Employers not enrolled then had to examine those documents in person by August 30, 2023.
Will the procedure go away?
It does not expire. DHS may amend or cancel it, and says it would announce any change in the Federal Register.