In light of the stay at home orders in place around the nation and limitations for online renewal services due to COVID-19, employees may experience challenges in renewing identification documents from List B on the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (e.g. state driver’s license, ID card, etc.). In light of this, the Department of Homeland Security is issuing a temporary policy.
Beginning on May 1, 2020, List B documents that are set to expire on or after March 1, 2020 and not otherwise extended by the issuing authority may be treated the same as if the employee presented a valid receipt for an acceptable document for Form I-9 purposes.
Employers should record the document information in Section 2 under list B, as applicable, and enter the word “COVID-19” in the additional information field.
Within 90 days after the termination of this temporary policy, the employee will then be required to present a valid and unexpired document. Once they provide this, the employer should record the number and other required document information from the document and initial and date the change.
If an issuing authority extends an expired List B document due to COVID-19, the employer should enter the document’s expiration date in Section 2 and enter “COVID-19 EXT” in the additional information field. The employee is not required to later present a valid unexpired List B document in this occasion.