United States: DHS Issues New Edition of Form I-9; Prior Editions Remain Acceptable for Now
April 3, 2025
Country / Territory
Share
At a Glance
- The new edition of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is dated 01/20/25 and has an expiration date of 05/31/2027.
- Employers may continue to use two previous editions of Form I-9 until those editions expire. These editions are both dated 08/01/23, and have an expiration date of either 05/31/2027 of 07/31/2026.
- Employers using an electronic version of Form I-9 must update their systems with the version that has the expiration date of 05/31/2027 before July 31, 2026.
The issue
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a new edition of Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, dated 01/20/25. This new edition is currently available, though employers may continue to use prior editions of the form until their respective expiration date as follows:
- Form I-9 with an 08/01/23 edition date, valid until its expiration date of 05/31/2027.
- Form I-9 with an 08/01/23 edition date, valid until its expiration date of 07/31/2026. (Employers using this edition in an electronic system must, by July 31, 2026, update their system with an edition of Form I-9 bearing a 05/31/2027 expiration date.
The new form has minor changes to align with statutory language and to update a privacy notice. The changes include:
- Renaming the fourth checkbox in Section 1 to “An alien authorized to work”
- Revising the descriptions of two List B documents in the Lists of Acceptable Documents
- Adding statutory language and a revised DHS Privacy Notice to the instructions
Additionally, starting April 3, 2025 E-Verify and E-Verify+ will have updated the Citizenship Status selection during case creation to reflect the new language “An alien authorized to work”. Depending on the form edition that is utilized, employees and employers may still continue to see the prior text as “A noncitizen authorized to work” in some E-Verify cases.
What this means for employers
Employers should ensure that the new form is integrated into their employment eligibility verification systems by July 31, 2026 and communicated to the personnel responsible for employment eligibility verification.
If you have any questions about the Form I-9 process or E-Verify, please contact your designated Fragomen representative or the firm’s Government Strategies and Compliance Group. This alert is for informational purposes only.
