The Form I-9 process must be completed and signed within three business days of the date of hire, and is not complete until the employer examines what is called "acceptable documents." 

These documents come in three tiers: A, B and C.

List A documents establish two things: Identity and the right to work. List A documents include green cards, U.S. Passports, and foreign passports combined with the Form I-94 or a temporary I-551 stamp. An employee who presents a valid, unexpired List A document is not required to present any other form of identity or work authorization. 

List B documents establish identity only. An employee who chooses to present a List B document must also present a document from List C for Section 2. Some List B documents include driver's licenses, ID cards, or school records.

List C documents, which prove employment authorization. An employee who chooses to present a List C document must also provide a document from List B for Section 2. Some List C documents include Social Security cards, birth certificates, Citizen ID cards, and DHS employment authorization.

To reiterate, List B and C documents must be presented together to confirm both identity and work authorization, while List A documents are presented alone and satisfy both the identity and work authorization requirement for Form I-9.

To complete Section 2 of the Form I-9, employees must present one document from list A, or one document from list B AND one document from list C. These documents must be physically examined by the employer or authorized representative. Although employers are not expected to be document experts, all accepted documents must be unexpired, and should appear to be reasonably genuine and relate to the person presenting them.

Learn how Clear I-9 can help you to make sure you never miss a beat during the I-9 verification process. Ask how an electronic I-9 compliance solution can help make sure you are properly verifying employment authorization and identification documents.