DHS Extends I-9 Flexibilities to July 2023

With continued precautions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and President Biden’s extension of the state of National Emergency on April 25, 2022, flexibilities first implemented in March 2020 for Form I-9 have been extended to July 31, 2023. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and uptick in remote work, employers may be unable to inspect documents confirming residential status in a timely manner (to comply with the rules of the DHS). In these cases, employers may submit I-9s without having inspected these documents in person as long as they record the reasons for not being able to do so in a memorandum for each affected employee. 

If an employer does accept and submit an I-9 to ICE without first inspecting the appropriate documents, this must be noted on the form and revisited when flexibilities are dropped. These flexibilities apply to employees hired after April 1, 2021 and who only work remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For more information, read our blog post on properly completing Form I-9 during the pandemic.