Form I-9 and work authorization

Every person hired in the United States completes Form I-9 within their first three days of work. It records that you are authorised to work — nothing more. It is not filed with any agency and it is not an immigration application.

Deadline

Section 1 by day one, documents by day three

You choose

Which documents to present, not the employer

No SSN yet

You may still start work

Kept by

Your employer — never sent to the government

How it works

You complete Section 1 on or before your first day. You then show your employer documents from an official list, and they complete Section 2. The employer keeps the form.

You choose which documents to present:

• One List A document proves both identity and work authorization — a U.S. passport, a green card, or an employment authorization document (EAD).
• Or one List B document (identity: a driver's licence, a state ID) plus one List C document (work authorization: a Social Security card, a birth certificate).

One document from List A is sufficient on its own. Presenting a passport does not additionally require a Social Security card, and a licence plus a Social Security card is complete without a green card.

If you do not yet have an SSN

You can start work while your Social Security number application is pending. Write "applied for" in the relevant field and give the employer the number when it arrives. An employer may not refuse to hire you solely because the card has not been issued yet.

Do not delay starting a job in order to wait for the card, and do not accept being paid in cash instead — that leaves you with no wage claim, no unemployment eligibility and no earnings record.

Names must match

Enter your name exactly as it appears on the documents you present, in the same order. Where your naming convention does not map onto the form's boxes, or a married name appears on one document and not another, say so at the time rather than improvising — a mismatch is the most common cause of the E-Verify problem below, and it is far easier to prevent than to unwind.

Employment authorization documents

Some categories of immigrant apply for an EAD (Form I-765) rather than having work authorization attached to the visa. Points that matter in practice:

• Processing takes months — file as early as the rules allow, and see tracking when your documents expire
• Some renewals carry an automatic extension beyond the expiry printed on the card, and your employer must accept the expired card together with the receipt notice. Keep the two together
• Working without authorization can carry immigration consequences far beyond losing the job

E-Verify

Some employers, and all employers in certain states, additionally run your details through E-Verify. If it returns a tentative non-confirmation, you have the right to contest it, and you may not be fired, suspended or have your pay withheld while you do.

Most mismatches are clerical — a name recorded differently by two agencies, a citizenship status updated at USCIS but not at the SSA. You will be given a referral notice with a deadline and told which agency to contact. Act on it immediately; the deadlines are short, and an uncontested tentative non-confirmation becomes a final one.

Reverification, and what it is not

Employers must reverify work authorization when a document with an expiry date that established it runs out. They may not reverify a permanent resident card, a U.S. passport, or a List B identity document — a green card holder being asked for fresh documents every year is being treated unlawfully.

Keep your own copies

Photograph both sides of every document you present, and keep your I-94, EAD and receipt notices together with your other documents to protect. When a renewal is delayed you will need them quickly, and the employer's copy is not yours to demand.

If something has already gone wrong — unpaid wages, a threat about your status, a dismissal you believe was discriminatory — your rights at work apply regardless of immigration status, and the agencies that enforce them do not ask about it.