If you hire in the US, the I-9 is not optional and the deadlines are tight. The good news is the process is simple once you know the five steps and the traps to avoid. This is a plain-English, step-by-step guide to federal I-9 verification for employers, current for 2026, whether your new hire is across the desk or across the country.
Quick note: Form I-9 is officially titled the Employment Eligibility Verification form. If you have seen it called that, it is the same document.
1 Section 1 by day one
Have the employee complete Section 1 no later than their first day of work for pay. They can do it once they have accepted your offer, but not before. Check that every field is filled and signed, and that the attestation box matches their status.
We act as your authorized representative and complete Section 2 in person anywhere in the five boroughs, which works for any employer. If your company is enrolled in E-Verify, we can also complete it by live video nationwide. Same-day signed PDF, from $65 per employee.
2 Let the employee pick documents
The employee chooses either one List A document (identity and work authorization together, like a US passport) or one List B plus one List C (identity plus work authorization). This is the single most important rule for avoiding a discrimination claim:
3 Examine within 3 business days
Within three business days of the employee’s first day, examine their documents. They must reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the person. You examine originals in person, or, if you are enrolled in E-Verify in good standing, over live video using the DHS remote procedure.
4 Complete Section 2
Record the document titles, issuing authorities, numbers, and expiration dates in Section 2, then date and sign as the employer. If you used the remote procedure, note that. Accuracy here is what an auditor looks at first, so no blank fields and no guesses.
5 Store and reverify
Keep the completed I-9 on file, separate from the personnel file, for the required retention period: three years after the hire date, or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Reverify work authorization using Supplement B only when a document with an expiration date lapses. Do not reverify permanent residents or US citizens.
6 Penalties and how to stay clean
Immigration and Customs Enforcement audits I-9s, and paperwork fines are assessed per form. A stack of small errors across a workforce can turn into a large bill. The cheapest insurance is a clean process:
- Use only the current form version
- Calendar the three-business-day deadline for every hire
- Complete every field and signature
- Track expiration dates for reverification
- Store forms consistently and be ready to produce them
Let us run your I-9s so you do not have to.
We verify documents, complete Section 2 on time, and keep your files audit-ready, in person or online across NYC.
Section 2 must be done within three business days of the employee’s first day of work. Section 1 is due by day one.
Can an employer tell an employee which documents to bring?
No. The employee chooses from the Lists of Acceptable Documents. Requiring specific documents can be discrimination.
How long do we keep I-9 forms?
Three years after the hire date or one year after the person leaves, whichever is later.
Do we need to reverify every employee?
No. Only reverify when a work authorization document expires. Never reverify US citizens or permanent residents.
Related: what I-9 verification is and I-9 for H-1B and remote hires.
More on I-9 verification: I-9 verification in NYC, online and remote I-9 verification, and who can verify an I-9.
See also: business and corporate notary in NYC
This article is general information, not legal advice. Federal I-9 rules, retention periods, and penalties can change. Confirm current requirements with USCIS at uscis.gov/i-9 or a qualified professional.
7 Storage, and the purge date nobody sets
Keep I-9s separate from personnel files. An inspection reaches the I-9s, and separate storage means you are not handing over each employee’s entire record along with them.
Retention is three years from the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Calculate that date the day somebody leaves and write it on the form. Then actually purge on schedule, because forms kept past their retention date are still forms an auditor can fine you for.
8 How to correct an error honestly
Errors happen. How you fix them decides whether they are a problem.
Draw a single line through the incorrect entry so it stays readable, write the correct information, then initial and date the change with today’s date. Never use correction fluid, never write over an entry, and never backdate.
If a form is missing entirely, complete one now using the current form edition and the real current date, with a brief signed memo explaining what happened. A late I-9 is a violation you can explain. A backdated one is a different category of problem altogether.
The employee corrects Section 1. The employer corrects Section 2. Do not fix their half for them.
9 What changed in March 2026
ICE reissued its inspection guidance and moved more than ten categories of error from technical to substantive. Technical violations came with a ten day window to fix them. Substantive violations do not.
Among the reclassified: missing dates, a missing date of birth, and use of the Spanish language form outside Puerto Rico. Substantive violations currently run from roughly $288 to $2,861 per form, assessed per form.
The practical effect for a small employer is that a stack of slightly untidy forms is now a priced liability rather than a housekeeping task, and the ten day rescue you may have been counting on is gone for these categories.
10 Run an internal audit before somebody runs one for you
A Notice of Inspection gives you three business days to produce the forms. That is not enough time to fix anything, which is exactly why the state of the files today is the only thing that counts.
Work through your file once a year: every Section 1 signed and dated, every Section 2 completed within three business days of the start date, the current form edition in use, Supplement A on file wherever anybody assisted or translated, reverification dates diarized, copies retained consistently or not at all, and nothing kept past its purge date.
Audit every file rather than a sample, and correct openly using the method above. Where the errors are numerous or the stakes are high, have an employment or immigration attorney look before you start, because how you document a self audit matters as much as what you find.
11 Where an authorized representative fits
You may designate somebody to examine the original documents in person and complete Section 2 for you. It does not have to be a notary and there is no federal license for the role.
What does not transfer is liability. If the examination is careless or the form is completed wrongly, the employer is fined, not the representative. That is the case for using somebody who does this every week rather than whoever is nearest.
We act as your authorized representative and complete Section 2 in person anywhere in the five boroughs, with a signed form returned the same day, and we do not tell your employee which documents to bring.
Need any document notarized online?
Do it over secure video in minutes, from any U.S. state. NotarEase NYC may earn a referral credit when you notarize through our partner, at no extra cost to you.
Also worth reading: E-Verify vs Form I-9, I-9 audits and ICE Notices of Inspection, reverification and Supplement B, and the three-day rule.