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The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is ending its
COVID-19-related temporary Form I-9, Employment Eligibility
Verification, policies due to the reopening of government offices.
As of May 1, 2022, employers must only accept unexpired List B
identity documents as part of the I-9 process. Also, after July 15,
2022, E-Verify will no longer provide extended timeframes for
employees to visit the Social Security Administration (SSA) to
resolve Social Security mismatches.
As a result of COVID-19 and the many closures of state
driver’s license facilities, DHS temporarily allowed employers
to accept expired List B identity documents as part of the I-9
process in certain cases. DHS indicated that it was acceptable for
employers to accept expired state IDs or driver’s licenses for
List B if the document expired on or after March 1, 2020, and the
state extended the document expiration date due to COVID-19.
This policy ended on May 1, 2022 due to the reopening of state
document-issuing facilities, and now, employers must only accept
unexpired List B documents. In addition, employers have until July
31, 2022 to update their I-9 Forms for employees that presented
expired List B documents between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022. A
chart detailing these changes can be found here.
Similarly, due to the closure of SSA offices to the public,
USCIS allowed employers participating in E-Verify to postpone
dealing with Social Security mismatches (cases in which an
employee’s Social Security number did not match the number in
the E-Verify database resulting in a “TNC” or
“tentative non-confirmation”). Before the pandemic, an
employee contesting a TNC was required to contact the government
office (SSA) within 8 federal working days or risk getting a Final
Nonconfirmation and loss of employment. Beginning March 2, 2020,
this requirement was relaxed and employees were provided an
extended timeframe to visit the SSA to resolve mismatches.
As of July 15, 2022, employees receiving a TNC for a Social
Security mismatch will again be required to contact the SSA within
8 federal working days to resolve the mismatch. Employees with
mismatches between March 2, 2020 and July 14, 2022 have until
September 29, 2023 to resolve their cases. A chart explaining the
preferred timeline for these cases can be found here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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