I-9 Visas—Self Audit Checklist

Making mistakes on a Form I-9 can have negative repercussions for businesses and employers. The Law Offices of Kahbo Dye-Chiew recommends that employers conduct a Form I-9 self-audit each year to avoid inaccuracies that can lead to civil and criminal penalties.

The purpose of the Form I-9 is documenting that new employees have authorization to work in the United States. This form applies to all employees hired after November 4, 1986. According to the United States Citizenship Immigration Services (USCIS), employers must complete forms at the time of hire—the actual beginning of employment.

The following summarizes the I-9 self-audit steps that you, as an employer, can take:

• Gather I-9s of all employees for one year (refer to payroll records for all employees)
• Separate I-9s into categories of current employees, terminated employees, and I-9 records to be destroyed. (To calculate which files can be destroyed, please refer to full self-audit checklist.
• Check for mistakes
  • I-9 completion date and employee hiring date
  • Expired or temporary work authorizations requiring verification
• Section one mistakes
  • No employee signature or date
  • Section 1 not completed on employee first hire date
  • Checked more than one box out of four boxes
  • Did not check a box
  • Checked the wrong box
  • Failed to list Alien Number, Admission Number, or expiration date
• Section two mistakes
  • No employee signature
  • No date
  • No date of hire filled in
  • No copies kept of the form
  • Different employer signing the form than the person reviewing original documents
  • Acceptance of unacceptable documents
  • Put documents in the wrong column
  • Accepted documents with content not belonging to employee (different names, birth dates, etc.)
  • Accepted too many documents
  • Inconsistencies about whether employer kept copies of supporting documents
• Section three mistakes
  • Incomplete section three information
  • No employer signature
• Corrections
  • Make changes by crossing out information and initialing and dating the change
  • List mistakes that cannot be corrected

Hawaii immigration attorney Ms. Dye-Chiew also includes a section to help you calculate retention for terminated employees, so you know when to destroy I-9 forms. This checklist tool is a short form and is viewable in our full self-audit checklist.

If you have questions or confusions about I-9s, consulting a business immigration lawyer can help resolve your issues.

For legal help with I-9s, contact the Law Office of Kahbo Dye-Chiew online or call us at 866-510-7082.