The I-9 form can seem deceptively simple, but many employers inadvertently make mistakes in I-9 administration that could prove costly in the event of an audit. This webinar will cover
the new version of Form I-9 (v. 8/1/23) which must be in use by November 1, 2023.
Presented in partnership with our HR partner Mineral, you will learn critical filing and retention requirements so you can be confident that your organization is compliant. We review the
various sections of the I-9 in-depth and discuss penalties for noncompliance. We’ll also cover options for examining remote employees’ I-9 documents. This will include tips for using
Authorized Representatives and the new “alternative procedure” option for E-Verify employers.
Our Webinar on I-9 Compliance
This recorded session was presented live on October 19, 2023.
Session Transcript:
Aimee P:
Hey, everybody. Thanks for joining us. We’re going to wait just a minute as a couple more folks join us to talk about all things I-9. [00:00:30] Another second. All right, I think probably have a lot of folks joining us today. Kind of a hot topic with the new I-9 form.
So, hi and welcome. Thanks so much for joining us. I’m really happy to have you here joining us with the training Navigating Form I-9 Compliance Essentials. [00:01:00] And so, before we begin, I’m just going to go ahead and introduce myself so you know who’s going to be talking with you. My name’s Aimee. I’ve been in the HR field for well over two decades. I’ve held various HR leadership roles, worked as a consultant for many small and mid-sized businesses just in a really wide range of industries.
And then as far as immigration goes and all things I-9, now I’m on the side of consulting and being in subject matter expertise about immigration. But I just wanted to mention, I have been directly involved at different points in my career and just every [00:01:30] step of the I-9 process over the years, including internal audits and also including turning around some frankly really messy I-9 processes. So, if you’re somebody out there doing I-9 administration at your company, just know I have been in your shoes.
All right, so before I jump in, just some quick housekeeping, the kind of common questions. So, we will email you out the recording of the presentation. You’re going to get the PDF of the slides. [00:02:00] You’ll get all that in just about 24 hours. And then, I’ll be holding a couple polls. And I do really hope that you’ll participate.
And then you can use the Q&A box for questions and I’ll leave a couple minutes at the end and I’ll answer as many as I can. And then, so depending on how many questions and all of that, I may run a minute or two over. But just know if you’re on a tight timeline, that Q&A portion will be included in the recording if I do run over.
Okay, so [00:02:30] maybe at first glance, maybe an hour feels like a long time just to talk about the I-9 form, but there really is just so much to cover on this one form. So, to orient you here, we’re going to start with the basics. We’ll then quickly discuss penalties just to highlight the importance of getting that process right. I’m going to review each section of the new I-9 form and make sure you’re familiar with the employee and employer responsibilities.
Then we’ll chat about acceptable documents. Then we’ll cover the I-9 filing and retention [00:03:00] requirements. We will cover options for document review for remote employees. And then I’ll briefly discuss E-Verify and the pros and cons of voluntary enrollment in E-Verify. And then finally, I will talk about internal audits of your I-9 files.
Okay, so jumping right in. I find really that I-9 form can often really feel deceptively simple at first. And as people that are new to I-9 responsibility [00:03:30] as they then dig in, they’re like, “Oh, wait, compliance can get really involved here.” Maybe even I find that kind of role in I-9 administration a bit intimidating. And so, when we think about it, so we have this government document has to be done in a really short timeframe. There’s really strict guidelines and potential substantial penalties if you don’t get it right.
And then there’s the fact that if you’re the one that’s signing on behalf of the employer in Section 2, you’re attesting you’re doing that under the penalty of perjury. So, to me it makes perfect [00:04:00] sense that that can cause some anxiety for those folks that are new to I-9 completion. And so, really my goal today is to give you guidance that’s going to build your expertise on the I-9 process so you feel confident that your organization is compliant with the requirements.
Okay, so we’ll start with the purpose of the form. The overall purpose is just that the I-9 verifies the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. And then of course, both employees [00:04:30] and employers, they must complete sections of the form. And so, we got a couple big changes with this most recent version of the I-9 and I’ll discuss those in just a moment. But for now, let’s make sure you’re using the right version of the form.
So, you’re probably aware we got a new form August 1st of this year and then you can see that addition date down in the bottom left corner of the form. And as usual, there’s a grace period where that old form can still be used and we’re just [00:05:00] around the corner from when you have to make sure you’re using that new form. So, if you’re not already, just make sure you’re using the new form by November 1st.
Okay. So, I’m going to go over the changes I think you’re most likely to care about. I won’t really talk about the minor stuff. And so, by far, the biggest news we got this year is this new process that allows E-Verify employers to remotely examine documents. Pretty big deal.
And so, I’m going to go over that at length and that’ll be kind of towards the end, just know we [00:05:30] will cover that. And then many of the other changes really came from, as I understand it, the intention of making I-9 form administration more streamlined more user-friendly. And yes, I mean I think that sounds really good in theory. We’ll see how it actually plays out.
And then so, another big change is Sections 1 and 2. They’ve been sort of simplified, shortened. Those are of course the employee and employer sections. Now they’re combined into one page. And then both the preparer [00:06:00] translator section and the reverification section, they became their own standalone supplemental forms. So, I’ll come back to more on these sections in just a bit as well.
And then so other than that new alternative procedure, I think the nicest changes, I mean are really these updated and simplified instructions. So, we really did actually get some useful guidance and it’s very useful I think. So, I’ll talk more about that in a bit, too. So, I actually think some of these [00:06:30] instruction changes were really helpful.
And then finally, that last version of the form, you probably remember this. So, the USCIS or United States Citizenship and Immigration Service had introduced these so-called smart form features. Those have actually gone away. So, those are gone on the new version. And the idea is the forms designed to be easier to be used on phones, tablets and such.
All right, so as I mentioned, as you’re probably aware, both the [00:07:00] employer and employee have responsibilities on the I-9 form. So, the employee’s going to start by completing Section 1. They do that no later than their first day of employment. They can do it sooner but not before they’ve accepted a job offer. And then, the employee needs to present those work authorization documents to the employer and the employer must complete Section 2, this employer section within three business days from the employee start date. So, we’re going to dig into more depth on both Section 1 and 2 in just a bit.
And [00:07:30] then Section 2 must be completed by the employer’s representative that could be designated HR professional, a manager, anyone else that’s acting on the employer’s behalf. And I will talk about third party authorized representatives in just a bit. But at this point, I wanted to highlight that the same person who reviews and validates the employee’s I-9 documents must be the one to fully complete Section 2, the employer section.
So, I bring this up just because it’s really not uncommon that we see this done. [00:08:00] So, for example, it’s not permissible for a manager to be the one looking at the new hires documents while then HR is doing Section 2. So, the same person has to do both of those.
So, before I jump into the I-9 form, let’s talk about when it’s not required. So, as you can see here, there’s times we don’t have to do an I-9 form. And you have them all here on the slide and you’ll get those slides. But let’s talk about just the two that I see come up most often. [00:08:30] First is anybody that’s considered to be a non-employee, so not on your payroll. So, in other words, those are folks like volunteers, unpaid interns, independent contractors. They don’t need to do an I-9 form. But I did want to just do a little detour with a quick word of warning.
So, each one of those categories has really specific compliance requirements as to who can be in that category and we see them often misapplied. So, we’re helping with clients with that all the time. And then even if they’re [00:09:00] correctly able to be a consultant or what have you, it’s important to know, even though you don’t have to do that I-9 form, you also can’t bring someone on in one of these other categories if you know they’re not authorized to work in the US. So, that’s important to know.
Then the other big category we see here is if you’re using a temporary employment agency, the temporary employees that are working for you don’t need to complete the form with you, your company because they’re going to be doing that with the hiring employer, the one that’s directly [00:09:30] employing them.
Okay. So, I’m going to do something I don’t normally do on webinars and that’s going to talk a little bit about penalties. I don’t normally focus there, but really in this case, I think it’s useful before we spend the better part of an hour talking about one form. And it’s just so common we see employers regularly, like unintentionally unknowingly making errors that are considered serious violations in the event of an audit.
And so, really having [00:10:00] an understanding of consequences for not getting it right, hopefully that just helps really put into context why I-9 administration is just a big responsibility and why I’m going to go into some of what kind of seem sometimes like maybe mundane details.
Okay. So, we’ll briefly talk about the specific penalties, I-9 penalties. And I-9 penalties, they don’t tend to be the ones that get the big headlines. The I-9 form, you don’t have to file it anywhere. You have to go digging and really digging around to [00:10:30] learn about these things. And so, I think sometimes that just can really make employers unaware of the extent of potential consequences and fines if things aren’t being done right.
And so, as you can see here on this slide, the penalties for these violations, so they very greatly, but the upper ends of these are big and depending on the violation level of offense of course will depend on what the actual penalty is. And it’s also important to know that these amounts get increased every year [00:11:00] based on inflation, too.
And so, when they’re assessing penalties, the Department of Homeland Security, they’re going to take into account things like company size and good faith effort made by the employer, the seriousness of the violation and then whether any unauthorized workers are involved and whether there’s any history of previous violations. So, those things go into figuring out sort of the overall fine and where in the range of these penalties you’re getting.
But it’s important to keep in [00:11:30] mind, the dollar amounts you see here, 272, maybe doesn’t seem like so much, but if you’re on the middle or upper end of that, just keep in mind these are per form. So, if you’re in a situation where you have a lot of forms involved, it adds up really fast. And then when you take into account forms are both current and previous company employees when you’re subject to an audit, so it just adds up fast is really my point.
Okay. So, the only Halloween themed slide [00:12:00] here. We have a scary story about one specific, I don’t know if it’s the largest penalty out there for I-9s, but I think it’s certainly up there and gives you a really good example. It’s just a good example that talks just to the fact that these penalties can add up. So, in this particular case you see here, it involved a small family-owned staffing company. They had a small full-time staff, only 40 to 45 workers, but they were doing cyclical hiring like staffing companies do. So, they would have anywhere from 500 to 1500 [00:12:30] seasonal workers.
So, what happened here seems like or appears from the case that an anonymous tip was phoned in to the Department of Homeland Security or maybe even multiple tips and that’s what initiated the audit. And so, that’s common. This is like many I-9 audits are complaint driven. And so, that’s often that kind of classic or disgruntled employee, current former employee, they’re phoning in that tip. And then when that happens, just like this case, [00:13:00] the next thing you know you have this notice that you have to produce all your I-9 records on all current employees and then for all employees going back three years.
So, this particular case, it was really, I mean for me who is in this stuff pretty fascinating, really involved just about every type of I-9 error imaginable. So, at the end of the day, the penalties that ICE sought out amounted over two and a half million dollars. I mean, it’s just astronomical. And the company did successfully get those down to one and a half million [00:13:30] dollars, but they also racked up just several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees while they were doing that.
And so, one thing that I found really interesting when I was reading through this particular case is that you can just tell that these auditors, they went to great length to find evidence of backdating the forms.
And so, in this particular case, it just so happened one of the employer representatives had changed her last name and then the auditors concluded she had gone back and signed old forms with her married name and [00:14:00] backdated them and she was signed them when she hadn’t actually had that name change in effect. Then they also had employer representatives that signed forms for employees who started before the employer representative was working at the company.
And so, I bring all this up because maybe it’s tempting to backdate those forms. Now, I don’t even know you’re doing signing under penalty of perjury, but maybe it’s tempting if it’s late. But really, my recommendation is just don’t. Don’t do that. We don’t want to gamble [00:14:30] on this one.
ICE, they really do look for evidence of backdating. They’re going to assign penalties and when they do find it, it’s not going to typically do the employer any favors in that overall penalty assessment. It’s seen as bad conduct. So, in this particular case, it resulted in much higher penalty amounts on the backdated forms in specific.
And then so one couple last thoughts here, just notice that this case dragged on for [00:15:00] around seven years. And so, the initial notice of inspection was back in 2016. Company didn’t get their audit results for about two years and then that final decision wasn’t made until about 2222. And then another appeal, their appeal from the employer was denied earlier this year.
And so, just my point here is that really it can be a lot of time, effort and legal fees just on this one compliance step. And so, we really just want to make sure we’re getting it right in the event that you are audited, hopefully you aren’t. [00:15:30] And then also, this case involved literally thousands of I-9 forms, I think something like over 4,000 and around 1400 violations. But just know cases that have much smaller numbers of I-9 forms can still easily result in penalties of hundred thousand dollars or more.
Okay. So, moving on from all that, also just be aware there’s penalties for engaging in unfair immigration-related employment practices. So, federal [00:16:00] law makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment based on citizenship or immigration status. And so, every once in a while, we still see employment applications out there or maybe even job ads that specify the position is only available to US citizens and that’s generally going to be prohibited by law.
So, yes, you can see on the slide here, there is a narrow exception to that. There are some limited circumstances where maybe if you have a government contract [00:16:30] or there’s some sort of law regulation or executive order that requires US citizenship, that may be the case. But just note that in those cases, like US citizenship requirements, they tend to get a little nuanced and they’re not always super straightforward.
But then no, on the other hand, it is totally okay to clarify that the employer doesn’t sponsor immigration applications in a posting. That’s going to be different because that’s focusing on that lawful ability to work [00:17:00] and not whether or not somebody’s a US citizen.
And then just know, too, that in the I-9 context, you can’t request to see proof of the work authorization documents or require I-9 completion ahead of an accepted job offer. So, that’s considered pre-screening on the basis of citizenship or immigration status. And that’s unlawful. That’s the one I think I see people doing a lot and they don’t realize that they’re doing it where they’re asking people to see their documents at some point during [00:17:30] the application process.
Okay. So, wrapping up just on this section, we also have several prohibited practices related to the documentation of I-9s. First one to discuss, it’s important to remember it’s up to the employee which documents that they provide for the I-9. So, in other words, the employer can’t say something like, “Okay, bring in your passport or your social security or driver’s license.” You can’t do that. You can give them a list of acceptable documents, but you can’t tell them the ones to bring in.
[00:18:00] And then you can’t request more or different documentation than required. And then finally as we see here, you can’t reject documents that reasonably appear genuine and to relate to the employee.
All right, so now, let’s go ahead and get back to the form itself and next, we’re going to review each section of the form and discuss acceptable documents. Okay. So, let’s review Section 1, the employee’s section in more depth. [00:18:30] And as you might imagine, Section 1 is at the top of the form on the top of the first page. And then just a couple notes, the employee must enter their full legal name if they happen to have used other last names like a maiden name that needs to be entered followed by home address and date of birth.
And then, the employee providing a social security number on the I-9, that’s going to be voluntary unless you’re an employer participating in the E-Verify program. [00:19:00] Email and phone number, also optional here, but do know if they are entered and you’re an E-Verify employer, they need to be put into the E-Verify case so that the employee gets email notifications about their case.
And then so, the thing about social security number as well, going back to that, know that if they do enter the social security number here, you can’t ask for a specific document with the Social Security Number on it. So, obviously, [00:19:30] yes, you need the Social Security Number for payroll purposes, but you’re going to be handling that part of the process via W-4 for your payroll and tax setup.
Okay. So, let’s talk about the middle of Section 1. So, here, we see the checkboxes where employees have four choices where they’re identifying citizenship or immigration status. So, first one as you see here is a citizen, second noncitizen national, third a lawful permanent resident, [00:20:00] probably know these as green card holders as well, number four would be a noncitizen other than the types of noncitizens described in two or three.
And so, if the last option is the case, the employee needs to enter the date that their employment authorization expires if applicable. So, it’s not always applicable for that one. And then they enter either the USCIS number, the form I-9 admission number or the foreign passport number and [00:20:30] country of issuance. And so, another similar to Social Security Number, it’s important just to note that you can’t require additional documentation to the normal I-9 documents to verify the number that’s entered here. So, for whatever reason, that question has been coming up a lot. So, I wanted to include that here today.
Okay. So, let’s talk about the expiration date field here. So, you might remember the last version of the form that [00:21:00] the employee and employer had to enter NA in the fields that didn’t apply. And gosh, thankfully, that’s not required anymore. So, in most cases where fields don’t apply, they can be left blank. However, if the employer, employee, rather, checks number four here and has a type of work authorization that doesn’t expire, then they do have to put NA here. So, not a situation that we see every day, but something important for you to know.
And then [00:21:30] once that part is finished, the employee then signs and enters the date they completed Section 1 and the accurate date of course on the signature line is the date that they actually complete Section 1. And then as a reminder, no later than the start date.
And then an employee again can complete the form before the start date, but we just need to make sure that there is an accepted employment offer. So, they have accepted your job offer. And then on the old version, the employee [00:22:00] had to designate here as part of the section whether they used a preparer or translator, but that’s now its own separate supplement and we’re going to talk about that next.
Okay. So, with the newest version of the form, we again find this preparer/translator certification for Section 1 on the third page and it’s now called Supplement A. And it only comes into play if the employee can’t complete Section 1 without support. So, examples would be maybe you have an employee that’s [00:22:30] a minor, their parent is helping them, or if the employee needs a form translated to their primary language, another really common one.
And then if anyone assists the employee completing Section 1, that person has to complete a certification area on this supplement. And there’s no limit to the number of folks that can be preparers or translators helping an employee. And then you only have to keep Supplement A with your form I-9, where this assistance has [00:23:00] been used. And then it’s just an important note if you or your authorized representative is doing help with Section 1 beyond just reminding of the responsibilities, then you also have to complete as a preparer/translator.
Okay. So, once the employee has done their part, before we move on to talking about Section 2, once the employee has finished, then the employer’s representative needs to actually [00:23:30] review Section 1 for errors and omissions. I think this is a step that sometimes gets skipped and that’s where things come up in audit. And then keep in mind though, if you do find errors that it’s the employee for Section 1 because it’s the employee section, not the employer that does the corrections.
And then just keep in mind the uncorrected employee errors can end up with those penalties like we talked about earlier. And seemingly small things, the employee forgets to sign or date the form or [00:24:00] if they don’t check a box or if they check, I mean, more than one box for their immigration status, to me, I mean they seem like they’re small, maybe insignificant errors, but that’s not the way that it’s looked at. Each one of those could result in a fine of over a thousand dollars per form if it’s there.
And so, ultimately, it’s the employer’s responsibility just to make sure there’s not any errors on form I-9. And so, I do recommend really familiarizing yourself with the instructions. They’re shorter now. [00:24:30] There’s less of them. They’re more succinct. So, just really familiarize yourself with them so that you can just really notice if there’s errors on the form.
Okay. So, moving on to Section 2, so that’s now at the bottom half of page one. This is the employer’s responsibility, the employer section. We’ll talk about this over the next couple slides. And then this is where you’re entering the documents the employee presents in a testing [00:25:00] that you’ve viewed the documents. And then I know I mentioned it before, but I’m going to repeat it because it’s very important. This part needs to be done within three business days of the employee’s first day of employment.
And then, I wanted to briefly call your attention to the additional information box here in this section so it’s not new. It’s been around since the last version of the form. One thing that you see here that’s new is this checkbox you need to select if you [00:25:30] are using the alternative procedure that we’ll talk about in just a bit. And so, with this box, there’s certain required DHS notations that go there and then there’s just more information about all this in the form instructions and then with USCIS or the Citizenship and Immigration Services online guidance.
And then the other thing you can do here in this additional information sort of optionally, you can use it to reference the E-Verify case number to track [00:26:00] termination date and the I-9 retention date or just any details here that would be useful to know later. And then just one point here, unless you are using that new alternative procedure for remote document verification, you do have to physically examine the employee’s documents in the presence of the employee and then you enter each one into the appropriate column. And so, we’ll talk about the various lists and the allowable documents [00:26:30] in a few slides.
But just as a reminder, you can’t include more or fewer documents than are required for completion of the form. So, I mean, it can seem like if somebody gives you a document from list A, B and C, it can seem like, “Oh, I’ll just enter all three,” but actually it’s called overdocumentation. It can result in fines and penalties if you’re audited.
And then just another note here, even if you are collecting photocopies of your acceptable documents, it is optional. Each [00:27:00] document, you do still have to enter that in Section 2. So, I’m guessing probably a lot of people know that and are doing that, but that is an error that comes up a lot in audit that they aren’t actually filled out because the form or the copies are attached. But just copying those documents, keeping them within I-9 doesn’t negate the requirement to fully complete the form.
All right, so furthering on that topic, I just wanted to take a minute to elaborate on that photocopying of the I-9 documents. So, [00:27:30] to clarify, unless you participate in the E-Verify program, you’re not required to photocopy or scan copies for retention and it’s just voluntary. And we find that employers sometimes are just surprised about that. They think it’s a requirement, but they’re not necessary. It’s just part of the standard I-9 requirements.
And so, if you do make photocopies, if you are making them of the ones that are for E-Verify requirements, just important to know you [00:28:00] have to do it for all employees regardless of national origin or citizenship and you need to be consistent. And then they had photocopies or scans need to be stored with the I-9 and it shouldn’t be used for any other purposes.
So, one thing as well that I’ll note, if you make a change in your copying procedures either after this presentation or just really any time in the future for whatever reason, I recommend that you make a note of that in your I-9 files and just add a memo [00:28:30] that talks about the date with your updated business practice. So, that way, if you are audited, it’s going to be really clear why you have document copies on some I-9s and not others.
All right, so finishing up with a Section 2, briefly talk about the employer certification block you see here. Just as a reminder, again, you’re attesting under penalty of perjury here, which is important, that we get this right and truthful, that you’ve examined [00:29:00] the employee’s documents and that they appear genuine and that to the best of your knowledge, the employees authorized to work in the US. And so, the dates here on this part are really important. We talked about that backdating issue earlier.
So, the first one is the employee’s first day of employment. So, that’s going to be their date of hire or the exact date the employee began employment for wages. So, you need to make sure that matches payroll and timekeeping records. Then straightforward, you’ll fill in your name, your position [00:29:30] title, your company name, your company address.
The second date where it says “Today’s Date”, that’s simply the date where you examined the I-9 documents and completed the employers section. And again, it needs to be done within three businesses days and you’re not allowed to backdate. If you didn’t do it by the required date, you should not be backdating, use that actual date that you completed the form. And then keep in mind [00:30:00] assuming you’re not using a fully electronic I-9 system, the paper form needs to be printed and signed by both employee and employer.
All right, let’s switch things up here bit and jump into a poll. And so, we’ll launch a poll here just about who is the one that’s responsible for Section 2 of the I-9 at your company. So, is that someone in HR? Is it a new hires manager? Are you using that nonemployee-employer [00:30:30] representative, or you doing something else? Just another second here. Let’s see what our results look like.
Okay. So, let’s see what we’ve got with our poll. Okay. All right, [00:31:00] I didn’t actually know what we’d get here, but someone in HR, great, 74% somebody in HR, 17% the new hires manager, small number of folks here using a nonemployee-employer representative. And then we’ve got another group that are just doing something else. Okay, great. Thank you so much for participating in that. We’ll move on.
Okay. So, lastly let’s talk about Supplement B. So, this [00:31:30] is new, I mean not really exactly new but new in the format that it’s in and was formerly known as Section 3 of the form. And so, Supplement B, we use that to reverify the current employee’s work authorization or we use it for rehires. So, here, let’s first talk about the reverification portion.
Okay. So, reverifying, that’s needed when the individual’s employment authorization expires. So, when we think back to when we were talking about Section 1 where noncitizen [00:32:00] employees who are authorized to work enter that expiration date of that temporary work authorization. So, you need to make sure that no later than when those documents expire, you’re using this section to enter updated documents that show continued employment authorization.
And then something to note, and of course this comes up more when we have a new form, but if that original I-9 you’re reverifying, if that’s the old version of the form and no longer able to be used, then you need to complete Supplement B [00:32:30] of the new version and keep it with the original I-9.
And then just a side note, because there’s also something we see a lot of confusion around, important to mention that reverification is not required for all documents that expire. So, only the ones that provide temporary work authorization. So, just for example, you don’t have to reverify your list B documents, passports or permanent resident cards. You don’t have to do that. And I did want to highlight on our platform. We have a really good guide, [00:33:00] detailed guide on I-9 verification that goes into a lot of depth, really good tool. I suggest you check that out.
Okay. And so, we also as mentioned use Supplement B for rehiring our former employees. And so, if you’re rehiring somebody, you have choices. You could either complete a brand new I-9. That’s fine, stored with the original for the full retention period. Or if your employee is rehired within three years of the date that previous I-9 was completed, you can use [00:33:30] the supplement instead.
So, if that’s the case, you’re going to review the original I-9. You’re going to determine if the employee is still authorized to work. So, in other words, did that documentation they originally provided, did it give temporary work authorization or does it need reverification?
And then if that previously completed I-9 form shows that they still retain their work authorization, forms didn’t require reverification, you’re just going to record the date every hire and then if it’s applicable, any name changes. [00:34:00] But if the employee’s employment authorization documents that they have expired, then you need to reverify the employee, look at new documents and then complete the supplement here.
Okay. So, now let’s shift gears. We’ll talk about the acceptable I-9 documents. Sometimes this gets a little confusing so we’ll go into it more depth. And I have done my best to keep this succinct and informative. So, bear with me over these next couple of slides as we are finishing up with the form here.
[00:34:30] Okay. So, we’ll go into each of the three lists, but let’s just start with the basics. So, here with I-9 completion, the employee either has to present one item from list A or both one from B and one from C. And so, it really depends. I find on your industry, where you work, the types of documents you’re going to see here. And just a reminder that employers can’t specify which documents [00:35:00] that the employee can bring in for the I-9, but you should provide the list of acceptable documents in advance to the employee to help them prepare for completing the form.
Okay. So, let’s go over some just details here that apply broadly to I-9 documents. So, first, they need to be unexpired. Now, keep in mind, sometimes documents will appear expired on their face, but they have been extended. That’s going to be most common with your employment authorization documents [00:35:30] and permanent resident cards or green cards. And in that case, they’re going to be presented along with a form or other documentation that documents that they’ve been extended.
And then this next point here, I’m guessing most of us or most of the folks listening wouldn’t see themselves as identity or immigration document experts and that is completely fine. And the USCIS specifically says employers are not expected to be document experts. And so, for I-9 purposes, you’re just [00:36:00] expected to accept documents that reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the person presenting them.
So, in other words, they don’t appear to belong to someone other than the new employee. They don’t appear to otherwise be fraudulent. And if there are doubts, if you have doubts, I have found we find over the years the I-9 central hotline that the USCIS offers is actually a really, really great resource for questions.
And then, it’s important to know about receipts. And so, employees [00:36:30] can submit receipts if they have a lost or stolen or damaged document and they’ve applied for a replacement and the receipt is going to temporarily fulfill your verification requirement for any document from list A, B, or C, and it’s going to be valid for 90 days.
And then after that point, the individual needs to bring in an actual document to complete the I-9. There’s a couple other situations more nuanced about receipts and the new I-9 form has actually added more information [00:37:00] and guidance on those less common cases on the form, which is great.
Then another final note here, photocopies not acceptable so you can’t see just a photocopy. So, even when you’re using the alternative procedure, you still have to see the actual documents.
Okay. So, let’s look a bit more closely at list A. Here, if they’re doing a list A document, they only do one item because [00:37:30] this list is the sort of heavy hitting documents that they validate both identity and employment authorization in the same document. That can be a US passport, passport card, a permanent resident card, otherwise known as a green card, employment authorization document, otherwise known as an EAD or a foreign passport that has evidence of temporary work authorization.
So, we don’t have time to dig deep into each one of these, but I did want to call out a couple things here. Something I wanted to highlight is number four here, the EAD card. [00:38:00] So, this is specific form, the I-766 form and that’s a really, really common I-9 document. So, there are a ton of different underlying immigration statuses that give somebody the option to get an EAD card employment authorization document that demonstrates work authorization.
And so, I just mentioned this, but just a reminder, it’s important to be aware. It might look like it’s expired, but the EADs have a potential automatic extension and that’s super common. We [00:38:30] answer questions about this all the time. But not every EAD has that. There’s just kind of a small group of the larger number of EAD categories that is eligible for an automatic extension, so important to be aware of.
And the next I will highlight number five here. So, one thing that falls in here is where an employer has sponsored the immigration application for the employee and [00:39:00] then other sorts of things that involve combination documents. So, while it’s list A, it’s one item, it’s actually a combination of things that people have to bring their foreign passport combined with other documents that demonstrate work authorization. And so, the two links here, when you get the PDF, you can click out to these links and learn more about both the EAD extensions and then the combination documents as well.
Okay. So, moving on to B and [00:39:30] C, lists B and C, if we have an item that if the employees not bringing a list a document, then they need to bring one item from both list B and C. One way to think about these lists, you can think of them like the kind of picture and paper list. So, list B, you can think of the picture list. So, these documents generally are going to have a photograph on them, things like driver’s license, school ID, US military card, things like that.
And then list C, if you think of that as the paper list, it’s like your important [00:40:00] documents like your social security card, various types of birth certificates, Native American tribal documents, US citizenship ID card, a couple other options there. And then the thing I think is worth noting here on number seven, so the new version of this form is very … I’m very thankful they have finally highlighted something that has been very confusing for folks for many years.
So, here they’re saying number seven is an employment authorization document [00:40:30] issued by the DHS. Well, they’re using that generically here. They’re not talking about that EAD form I-766 that we just discussed, which goes under A, list A and they’ve actually even spelled that out here because that’s something that has just been very confusing for a long time. So, that’s one of those nice enhancements that they did to the list. And then, there’s links here on the actual I-9 itself that tell you or where to find more details.
[00:41:00] Okay. So, I’ve already mentioned the strict three-day timeframe for I-9 completion and then it raises the question, “Well, what do we do when they don’t bring in the documents on time?” And then first, I always recommend informing the employee, just setting that expectation as part of your offer letter or pre-employment communication that this is going to be required on the first day of work.
And then, if you do have an employee whatever reason they’re working to find it, [00:41:30] it’s stuffed away in a safe deposit box somewhere, they just forgot it on the first day of work, I recommend allowing them to work for up to three business days. But it’s really important of course to make it aware that there’s this due date for the missing I-9 documents and that can’t work if they don’t bring it in. And then if they haven’t after three days, really the only option here is to end employment based on the inability to meet the employment verification requirements.
So, one option here, which may or may not make sense in [00:42:00] all cases or for all types of employers theoretically, I mean you can end employment but then hold the job open for a short period of time. For example, if you let them know that they have five days and if they can produce their documents, you’re going to rehire them. But otherwise, you’re going to reopen that position. Again, that’s not required. For some types of employers, that might work well. For others, it’s just not, probably not going to make sense.
[00:42:30] Okay. Let’s move on now to the I-9 filing procedures. And over the next couple of slides, we’re going to talk about important process and retention requirements for form I-9 once it’s been completed. All right, so regarding how to store I-9s. So, we recommend that you keep your I-9s readily accessible, keep them out of your personnel files. And if you are still using paper copies, it seems like [00:43:00] a lot of our clients are, then that can be a separate master file, can be a three-ring binder.
And because I-9 files, they have their own unique record retention requirements that just make sure that you’re keeping the forms as long as necessary and that you can easily discard them when that retention period expires. And then for administrative ease, you can also consider removing the employee’s I-9 from the master file on their termination date and putting it in a separate terminated employee I-9 file [00:43:30] until the appropriate destroy date. We’ll talk about that in just a second.
And just one note here, I mean in the event that you are storing I-9 forms electronically, so I don’t have time to really dig deep on that one, but it is important just to know their specific compliance rules related to electronic retention of I-9s. So, regardless of where and how you’re storing your I-9s, in the event you are subject to an external I-9 audit, hopefully you’re not confronted with that.
But if you are, [00:44:00] you’re going to be required to make those forms available in as little as three days prior to inspection. So, that is not a lot of time and one of the main reasons that we want to keep them out of the personnel file so that you’re not madly rushing around to pull hundreds of forms out of the personnel files within three days.
Okay. So, we’ll talk a bit here about how long to store your I-9 forms. They need to be retained as long as the employee is working for you. So, for the full length of employment [00:44:30] and then after employment has terminated, they need to be retained for three years after the date of hire or one year after termination. So, whichever one is later. And we have a simple kind of math here to help you calculate your accurate I-9 destroy date.
And so, once your I-9 retention period expires, then we want to destroy your old I-9s. I mean, if you keep them, it’s not the end of the world, but you may still have to turn them over in [00:45:00] event of an audit. But so when you destroy them, I would just recommend using a secure shredding company to do that just so you’re not compromising sensitive identity information.
And then my preference is to keep records of the I-9s that I’ve destroyed just in case you’re ever asked about a document and that was already past the expiration date so you know that it did exist, but it’s been properly destroyed within the timeframe.
And then finally, [00:45:30] if you’re in the middle of an audit happen to be or some kind of litigation about a specific employee, then you want to make sure you’re keeping those records until after that audit or claim is closed.
Okay. Now, we’re going to move on to what has just been such a very popular topic for us, I mean, for a long time, but really more so lately, how to handle the I-9s for folks working remotely. And there’s of course as mentioned been some important recent changes here.
[00:46:00] Okay. So, as historically, as I’m sure you’re likely aware, the I-9 process always required in-person physical examination of the I-9 documents. And historically, remote viewing was not permitted. There was a limited temporary COVID-related exception that allowed employers to do remote verification in certain cases. That expired. And when that did on August 1st of this year when those rules expired, the COVID rules, we got this biggest probably [00:46:30] announcement in I-9 history, of course that we have this permanent rule allowing remote verification.
And so, the first thing just to be aware of is not just anybody can use this new alternative procedure for remote verification. Only E-Verify employers and only ones that are considered to be in good standing can use it. And so, of course, E-Verify is you’re likely aware, but just mentioned here, that’s the government system that’s going to compare your I-9 documents to government records.
[00:47:00] And so, what does in good standing mean? We see that here on the slide. But in a nutshell, to be in good standing, the employer has to make sure they’re following all either program requirements, be enrolled in E-Verify for all the hiring sites that are using the alternative procedure. And just as a side note for E-Verify purposes, that hiring site is the location where employees are hiring employees and the location where they’re completing form I-9.
[00:47:30] And so, there’s not an application to say you’re in good standing or anything like that. Essentially, the employer is making the determination whether or not they meet these criteria. And assuming they do, then they can begin to use the alternative procedure. And we’ll talk in just a second about the pros and cons of voluntary E-Verify use. But next, we’ll jump in to talking about the process itself of the alternative procedure.
And so, the first step is just going to be examine the copies, make sure they appear genuine [00:48:00] to belong to the employee. And if they happen to be two-sided documents, make sure you’re looking at both sides and examine copies of both sides. Then you’re going to do a live video meeting with the employee. And then they need to bring those same documents, the actual documents, the ones you previously saw copies of to make sure that they do seem to be genuine, they do seem to belong to the employee who’s presenting them.
Then you’re going to indicate on the I-9 that you use the alternative [00:48:30] procedure, that’s that checkbox you mentioned. You can find it both on the I-9 form itself or on Supplement B for reverifications in the additional information section. And then lastly, you keep copies of all the documents that you used. And so, that’s all.
And let’s talk a bit more about those E-Verify hiring sites and the relationship to the alternative procedure. So, employers, they select which sites [00:49:00] participate in E-Verify on a hiring site by hiring site basis. And what that means is that if the company decides, okay, this particular hiring site is participating in the E-Verify, well then, all newly hired employees for that hiring site need to be run through E-Verify. And if the employer decides that they’re not going to have a particular hiring site participate, you’re not permitted to verify any employees at that location.
And so, it’s similar with the alternative procedure. [00:49:30] It needs to be offered to all employees at a hiring site, but there is this exception that the employer can choose to offer the alternative procedure only to fully remote employees and still require in-person verification for onsite or hybrid workers. And I can see why you would make that choice. It makes sense to me.
But just know if you’re using E-Verify selectively for a company with multiple locations, it needs to be clear that the reason [00:50:00] you’re doing that is the reason you’re using it in some hiring sites and not others is completely unrelated to worker immigration, citizenship status or national origin.
Same thing, similar if you’re using the alternative procedure only on the fully remote hires, again, you need to make sure you can demonstrate you’re not adopting that practice for some kind of discriminatory reason. So, in other words, it can’t be something like, “Okay, I’m going to use E-Verify in Texas because we’ve got tons of non-US citizens working there, but in Ohio we don’t have a lot [00:50:30] of foreign workers.”
So, it can’t be something like that. And I just suggest internally documenting those nondiscriminatory business reasons for your selective use of E-Verify or the alternative procedures somewhere with your I-9 records.
Okay. So, let’s assume that you’re not yet using E-Verify and you can’t take advantage yet of the new alternative procedure. What are the options? Unfortunately, there’s not great options under the [00:51:00] current rules. It may change in the next little bit here. But for the time being, you basically either have to get a manager to the employee’s location or get the employee to a company office location.
I mean, that can be great if you have in-person orientation and can do that within the required timeframe, but it can also be pretty impractical or just downright cost prohibitive in a lot of cases. And particularly for employers, we see a lot of who are operating entirely remotely and just don’t have [00:51:30] physical offices. And so, it’s also probably not super practical to get the manager to travel out to where the employee is either.
And so, what that leaves us with is the use of an authorized representative that’s anybody designated to complete the I-9 process on the company’s behalf. And so, where you’ve got employees working in different locations than the employer location and where you can’t use that alternative procedure really sometimes that authorized [00:52:00] representative is your best or only option. So, let’s talk about that a bit more.
All right, so first, who can be an authorized representative? Well, the answer is really just about anybody but the employee themselves on their own I-9 form. That makes sense. And USCIS actually specifically states that members of the general public can be your authorized representative. So, I’m sure they’re not suggesting just picking a random member of the general public off the street.
But in theory, in a pinch, you could have somebody like a new [00:52:30] employee’s family member perform that task. But it’s not super ideal, not really recommended. And it’s much more is really common and more recommended to use other options like outsourcing that to somebody that’s doing it, offering that service for a fee.
And then just one thing to just be aware. I mean, if you’re having the authorized representative do your I-9 forms on your behalf, it does include some risks. So, the employer is still going to be liable for any violations. And that authorized rep [00:53:00] needs to make sure that they’re able to review Section 1, they understand how to identify errors or admissions, and then they need to understand what they need to do for Section 2.
And so, we get questions all the time specifically about notaries. So, that’s one of the common sort of options here. And can you use notaries? And the answer is yes. Yes, you can totally use a notary in most cases. Just be aware that there are times some states don’t allow that or some notaries just don’t [00:53:30] do it out of personal preference. And also, be aware that if you’re using a notary, they’re not actually acting as a notary and they should not actually notarize the form. So, we see that happens sometimes, too, which is considered an error.
And so, I think an important strategy to consider if you are using an authorized representative is just to reduce some of your risk with third party doing this for you is to have a trusted company staff person, somebody familiar with all those nuances of the form on a live video meeting [00:54:00] during that I-9 verification process so they can help just address any concerns or questions that come up.
Okay. So, as we’re wrapping up, I just want to briefly cover a couple things about E-Verify and those considerations I’ve mentioned about voluntary use. Okay. So, in a nutshell, E-Verify is a free web-based system that we get from the Citizenship and Immigration Services. And what it does, it compares [00:54:30] information provided on the I-9 against millions of government records including DHS, Social Security Administration records to help confirm employment eligibility.
And I think the most important thing here to note because we do see this getting confused sometimes, is outside of allowing that remote verification with the alternative procedure we just talked about, using E-Verify doesn’t change any of the I-9 requirements. It’s actually going to be on top of, in addition to the I-9 requirements can happen after the I- [00:55:00] 9 is completed.
Okay. And so, while E-Verify, it’s typically going to be optional for most employers, the most common thing is that you’re required by either federal or state law to utilize the system. So, the federal level, that’s typically federal contractors and subcontractors. And the state rules differ. So, a bunch of them are also linked to state contracting requirements, but there are several states that require all employers or maybe those of a certain size to use E-Verify. There’s a list [00:55:30] here.
And then also, just know in the platform, we have a detailed guide on this on the state requirements. That’s going to be a great reference. And then if you’re not required by federal or state law, then you just are going to make a business decision about whether or not to use E-Verify.
And so, before we jump into that, sort of the considerations about that business decision with using E-Verify, let’s talk just briefly about some things that are a little different about the process, I-9 process when you’re [00:56:00] using E-Verify. So, the first one, mentioned it before, but again, that Social Security Number is no longer optional in Section 1. It’s required if you’re using E-Verify.
And the next, when a list B document is provided, it must include a photograph. And I’m sure you’ve heard me mention a couple times here that you can’t specify which documents that the employee brings in for the I-9, but you can let them know that [00:56:30] you need a list B document with a photo because you’re an E-Verify employer.
And then finally, there’s documents that have to get copied for E-Verify’s photo matching requirement. So, if the employee gives you a passport, a passport card, permanent resident card, or an EAD, you need to copy it and retain it with the I-9. And you’re only required to copy those documents to comply with the E-Verify’s requirements. Not generally copied, just the ones for [00:57:00] photo matching. All right, so if you’re not required to use E-Verify, again, then it’s a business decision that you want to carefully consider as to whether you should do this voluntarily or not.
Let’s talk first about the benefits. So, I mean, I really think that this biggest benefit of, I mean, it seems as this remote verification, this is pretty huge and I suspect that it’s going to be a huge incentive for folks that have been on the fence to start voluntarily using the system. But [00:57:30] beyond that, I think a big benefit is really E-Verify is it’s designed to reduce the risk of hiring undocumented workers.
And so, a primary advantage of using E-Verify is that it can help you reduce your exposure to violations and fines. And so, if you’re using it properly, so assuming it’s based on compliant underlying I-9 procedures, it can help act as evidence that you’re in compliance with the employment eligibility laws.
And then [00:58:00] if you happen to be hiring international students on F-1 visas and STEM fields, there’s a program that allows a 24-month extension of their work authorization, and that’s only available to E-Verify employers. So, it’s another maybe lesser known benefit of E-Verify.
Okay. So then, let’s look at the drawbacks. Outside of some additional training and administration requirements that are many times probably likely offset by the benefits, the biggest probably potential drawback is that [00:58:30] you are essentially signing up and stating that you were allowing periodic audits by either Social Security Administration or DHS of your hiring records.
And so, you could actually increase your chance of an external audit if you’ve got patterns of noncompliance. So, errors that could otherwise go undetected in the I-9 process could be subject to more scrutiny when you’re using a government system like [00:59:00] this. And so, for this reason, it’s just important to make sure your I-9 processes are compliant, ready to withstand an inspection before voluntarily signing up.
All right. I know I’m kind of running a little late on time here, but I’m going to quickly launch the second poll just because I am really genuinely curious about whether we’ve had impacted this new alternative procedure and are you using E-Verify and why. [00:59:30] Or is it a requirement or did you do because you wanted to do the alternative procedure or are you in the no camp, but no, but maybe you want to use it. Let’s see what our results look like.
Okay. Let’s see if I can just see what we’ve got here for our results. [01:00:00] Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah, I didn’t know what to expect here. So, we’ve got no, is our majority here and not likely to. Okay. And we’ve got some that want to start and then we’ve got, looks like about 32% in the yes camp. Great. Thanks for that. And then I just have one more quick section on audits and then we will [01:00:30] do Q&A. And I know I’m on the top of the hour, so just know if you have to cut out that you will get this in the recording.
And so, with audits, it can definitely be beneficial to conduct an audit of your I-9 records and that can really help your compliance efforts. Because generally what happens is you find errors and mistakes and you can correct them before you actually get hit with an external audit. And then you can also strengthen procedures and training and that can just decrease the likelihood of future errors.
[01:01:00] But then, okay, after I say that, it’s then important to be aware that the findings of your audit can become part of legal proceedings against you. So, if the employer doesn’t address problems that they found, it can actually increase their liability. Because basically what happens is it’s used as evidence against you that you knew about these mistakes but didn’t take corrective action.
And so, I [01:01:30] think times to consider when to audit, when it might be beneficial. You’re new at a particular company in other words and know I-9 audit hasn’t been done recently, it can be a good time to audit your files, particularly if you have any sense that I-9 compliance is just not really ideal. And then if you’re new in that HR manager role, you could potentially be on the hook for those errors whether or not they were under your watch.
And I just would say if you have any kind of hunch that your [01:02:00] files aren’t looking as good as you’d like or maybe something during this presentation caught your attention, go ahead and audit your files. I mean, of course, be ready to make all the corrections if you do it.
And then just one more mention, I think, if you are considering using E-Verify on a voluntary basis, I think it’s really important to do an internal audit to make sure the processes are in good shape before you do that. And we have a great I-9 audit worksheet available on our platform that has a bunch more details.
But the last thing I’ll say here before we [01:02:30] go into Q&A is just to be on the safe side and particularly if you think you’ve got some serious I-9 process issues, you might want to do that internal audit. Work with a lawyer to help conduct that audit under attorney-client privilege, so that can help minimize the risk that those findings get used against you.
All right. I’ve been seeing some kind of question, the question numbers rolling up. Let me just, and again, I know we’re a couple minutes late, but let me see what I’ve got here and which ones I can quickly answer just a second.
[01:03:00] Okay. So, question, do I-9s need to keep separate from the employee files? The answer is, I mean technically, there’s multiple reasons to keep them separate. The one that I would say the answer is yes. My recommendation is yes if they [01:03:30] are in the files. In addition to the worry that you can’t get to them all if you need to in an audit, there is also the concern that you have information about protected class information in the employee file and you don’t want it to look like that’s being used for discriminatory reasons.
So, I really do recommend that they’re kept separate. And again, that biggest reason is if you get hit with that, you have to turn over all your files in three days, it’s going to be a lot easier [01:04:00] in the case that they’re outside the files.
And then I have a question about they’re paying a couple of independent contractors from the payroll platform. It’s 1099s and should they complete an I-9? Okay. So, this question actually says as 1099 employees. So, I know some folks do pay … So, here’s how I’m going to answer that question. Assuming that this person is being paid as a 1099 contractor and is validly [01:04:30] categorized as a independent contractor, you do not have to do an I-9 for them. But again, watch out, make sure you have … We see it all the time that people are not doing that right.
Somebody asked about would each employee not under compliance be an offense. I think what that question is, is about penalties. There’s kind of a complicated calculus that goes into the whole sort of finalizing the final number, but [01:05:00] the ranges of penalties are per form. And so, it’s really, you’re looking at all the forms that are involved and again, there’s more information you can go out and kind of see how they calculate this on the ICE website. But ultimately, I would say just know it’s a bunch of potential penalties and really try to get the processes in a place that you hopefully wouldn’t have to worry about them.
[01:05:30] Someone asked in addition to social, did you say email and phone number optional? Yes. Yes, they are. Oh, okay. So, Carrie asked the question, “If an employee writes their social on the form, they can’t use their social security card as an eligible document?” No, actually no. Let me restate the thing that I said. So, if they are writing a Social Security Number on the form [01:06:00] but are using documents other than the social security card, you can’t ask to see the social security card in addition to the required documents. So, thank you for asking that.
And I know we’re kind of late. Let me say there’s so many questions here trying to answer and someone’s asking, “Is a verbal offer acceptable or does the offer have to be accepted [01:06:30] by signing an offer letter?” I mean, it’s just the language is an accepted offer. It’s always nicer to have see that backed up in writing somehow, even if you just kind of have email or something that the offer has gone out. But in an ideal world, I would say yes, you would like to see a signed offer letter before, but just as long as you’re not doing it pre-offer stage, that’s the key thing.
[01:07:00] Someone asks, “Where can you find the instructions?” So, not only do we have a link to them in our platform, you can just find them directly on I-9 Central. Search up in the internet, I-9 instructions, they’ll come right up. There’s a link from the I-9 form as well to them with the new one.
Great question from Elena. “Do all of our current employees who filled out the old I-9 form when they were hired need to fill out the new form?” No. The answer [01:07:30] is no. Yes. And you say, “I believe no,” but you are correct. Yes. No, they don’t have to do that. When we get the new form, we use it going forward. We use it for reverification, for anyone that needs reverified, but you don’t have to go backwards and fill it out for folks that already did the old one.
Someone’s asking, Michelle’s asking, “If the employee provides their own copies of their documents instead of bringing the actual physical documents, is it acceptable?” No, you cannot [01:08:00] see the copies. You need to see the actual physical documents for the process. And again, I mean, the alternative procedure, you do start with seeing copies, but you’ll see the actual physical documents during the video meeting.
Okay. So, we’ve got another person asking and I know still, I see a lot of you are hanging on here for the question, so I know [01:08:30] we’re kind of interested in all of this. So, someone is asking, “How do I know if I need to make photocopies of the employees I-9?” So, assuming you’re not an E-Verify employer, which seemed like the majority of folks weren’t, the answer is you don’t have to. And it’s a choice and you get to choose whether or not you want to.
And then, just know that if you’re doing it, you have to fill them or you have to keep them for everybody [01:09:00] and you can just kind of think about what makes sense for the specific organization.
My preference is always to have copies just because if there’s anything, any questions about the copies or the documents that were brought in, maybe there’s later questions, were they fraudulent or just questions about did you do the process right, you have the documents to go back to. But I think if you know that you’re not likely to keep them consistently for everybody, then it actually is not a great thing [01:09:30] because you don’t want to be caught where you’re kind of keeping them for some and not all because that can cause fines as well.
Okay. I know we’re running late, but let’s see. And then, we have similar question on copies. Someone says, “Does it open you up to liability if you keep them?” I mean, it depends on what documents you’re making copies of, I guess. I mean, I think if you are making [01:10:00] copies of documents that for whatever reason you should have known were not genuine, then yes it could, assuming that’s not part of your process where, I mean it shouldn’t be where you’re knowingly accepting documents that aren’t genuine.
I mean, otherwise, I think it opens you up for potential risk if you’re doing it inconsistently, otherwise, or if you’ve accepted wrong documents or things like that. So, I mean, the answer is [01:10:30] yeah, I mean it depends here.
And then someone asked, “Does Supplement B need to be used if someone’s driver’s license expires?” No, driver’s license is one of those list B documents that doesn’t need reverified. So, definitely recommend that you check out our reverification guide on the platform goes into a lot of detail on that.
Okay. I think just because [01:11:00] there were 11 after and the numbers have dropped way down, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to answer all the questions. Really got a lot of great questions. Thank you so much for being here. And just final reminder, we will email you that PDF of the slides and plus a link to the recording in about 24 hours. And I really thank you for joining and hope you have a good rest of your day.
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