United States

Form I-9, in plain English.

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Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, is the US form every employer must complete for each new hire to confirm identity and authorization to work.

Read the full answer

The employee completes Section 1 by their first day. The employer examines documents and completes Section 2 within three business days of the start date. The form is retained, not filed. Workzoom holds I-9 status on the same employee record used for onboarding.

Sources

USCIS: Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification

How Form I-9 works.

The I-9 is a retention obligation rather than a submission. Employers keep the form for three years after the hire date or one year after employment ends, whichever is later, and must produce it on request during an inspection. Employees choose which acceptable documents to present, and the employer cannot demand specific ones. Because the I-9 deadline runs on business days from the start date, onboarding that begins before day one gives the process room rather than compressing it into the first week.

Where Form I-9 goes wrong.

Specifying which documents a new hire must produce is a discrimination risk, not an administrative preference.
The employee selects from the acceptable lists.
The second common failure is retention maths: teams purge on a flat three-year rule and lose forms for long-tenured employees whose retention clock runs one year past their departure.

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In the product

How Form I-9 runs on Workzoom.

Form I-9 is part of the Workzoom Talent Suite. Workzoom runs HR, workforce, and talent on a single employee record across ten countries: Canada, the United States, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, and the United Kingdom. Full gross-to-net payroll runs live in Canada, the United States, and the Bahamas. Pricing starts at $4 per employee per suite per month.

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Questions about Form I-9

When must Form I-9 be completed?

The employee completes Section 1 no later than their first day of employment. The employer completes Section 2 within three business days of the employee's start date after examining acceptable documentation.

Is Form I-9 filed with the government?

No. The I-9 is retained by the employer and produced only if requested during an inspection. It is a recordkeeping obligation rather than a filing.

How long must employers keep Form I-9?

Three years after the date of hire, or one year after employment ends, whichever date is later. For long-tenured employees, the one-year-after-termination rule is usually the binding one.

Can an employer tell a new hire which documents to bring?

No. The employee chooses which acceptable documents to present from the published lists. Requiring specific documents can constitute unlawful discrimination.

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Form I-9, in plain English.

How Form I-9 works.

Where Form I-9 goes wrong.

How Form I-9 runs on Workzoom.