Form I-9 and E-Verify: what new hires show on day one

Not legal advice. This is general information. Form editions and procedures change. For your own situation, check USCIS I-9 Central, E-Verify and an immigration or employment attorney.

When you start a job in the U.S., every new employee completes Form I-9 — U.S. citizens, green card holders and visa holders alike. USCIS says employers must complete and keep a Form I-9 for everyone hired after November 6, 1986. Here is what employees and employers each do, so day one goes smoothly.

What Form I-9 is

Form I-9 verifies an employee's identity and authorization to work in the U.S. It is not sent to the government; the employer keeps it. As of October 2026, the USCIS Form I-9 page lists the 01/20/25 edition; check that page for which editions may be used and until when.

Employee: Section 1 — by your first day

• Complete and sign Section 1 any time after you accept the job offer and no later than your first day of employment.
• Enter your name, address and date of birth, and attest to your status (U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or noncitizen authorized to work, for example).
• Social Security number — required if your employer uses E-Verify; otherwise optional.
• If you need help with English, someone may translate or fill it in for you. That preparer or translator completes and signs Supplement A, and you still sign the form yourself.

What to bring: one List A document, or List B + List C

You choose from the list of acceptable documents. Documents must be original and unexpired.

If a document was lost, stolen or damaged and you applied for a replacement, the receipt can be accepted for a temporary period; validity rules are in Section 4.4 of the USCIS employer handbook (M-274).

Some E-2 spouses have an I-94 marked E-2S; see our E-2 visa guide.

Employer: Section 2 — within three business days

• Complete Section 2 within three business days of the first day of work for pay. For a Monday start, that means by Thursday.
• If the job lasts less than three days, complete it by the first day of work.
• Generally you must physically examine the documents to see whether they reasonably appear genuine and relate to the employee. Employers enrolled in E-Verify may use a DHS-authorized alternative procedure to examine documents remotely, and check the box saying so.
• Do not specify which documents the employee must present. If you receive an acceptable List A document, do not ask for List B or C.
• For rehires and reverification when work authorization expires, use Supplement B (formerly Section 3).

E-Verify — the step after Form I-9

E-Verify compares Form I-9 information with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records. Employee rights include:

• No prescreening — an employer must not create an E-Verify case before you accept the job offer and complete Form I-9.
• No document demands — E-Verify employers also may not specify which I-9 documents you present.
• Posters — E-Verify employers must display the E-Verify participation notice and the Justice Department's "Right to Work" poster, in English and Spanish.

If you get a mismatch (Tentative Nonconfirmation)

1. Your employer tells you about the mismatch, and you decide whether to take action to resolve it.
2. If you take action, the employer refers the case, and you must contact DHS or SSA within eight federal government working days of receiving the Referral Date Confirmation.
3. While it is pending you must be allowed to keep working, and the employer may not fire you or take other adverse action.
4. An employer may end employment based on E-Verify only after a Final Nonconfirmation.

Mismatches can come from things like a name spelled differently, a married name, or the order of names in English. If any information was entered wrongly, tell your employer right away. To check your own work eligibility ahead of time, you can use myE-Verify, a free service from DHS.

Checklist

Employees - Before day one, gather one List A document, or one List B plus one List C (original, unexpired). - Make sure the name in Section 1 matches your documents.

Employers - In the welcome email, say "bring documents from the list of acceptable documents" — do not name specific ones. - Put the three-business-day Section 2 deadline on the calendar. - For job ads, see post a job and our pay transparency guide.

Some programs, such as STEM OPT, require the employer to be enrolled in E-Verify; see our OPT and STEM OPT guide. Terms are explained in the glossary.

Last checked: October 19, 2026.

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