Increase in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Visits, Protect Your Company with Electronic Form I-9

As promised the current administration has stepped up strict enforcement of US Citizenship and Immigration Services enforcement. Recent articles in the New Jersey Law Journal and Monterey Herald warn of increased audits and workplace visits, including relating to remote workers.

This means it’s more important now than ever to ensure your company is compliant with regulations surrounding U.S. employment authorization. You can read the details on the UCIS website, and their frequently ask questions but the most important section where they detail the fines your company can incur by not following the regulations to the letter. Among other fines like document abuse up to $1782 per violation, if your company fails to complete or store Form I-9 documents correctly, you may be fined up to $2156 PER FORM.

ICE notes that it’s not just random visits that catch Form I-9 violators, but tips from previous employees and others and ICE and UCIS are not messing around when it comes to form I-9, and with the current administration coming down hard on employer’s responsibilities when it comes to Immigration reform they are ramping up audits. According to the UCIS website employers must:

• “Verify the identity and employment authorization of each person hired after Nov. 6, 1986. For employment in the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands (CNMI), this verification requirement applies to persons hired after Nov. 27, 2009.”

• “Complete and retain Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, for each employee who is required to complete the form.”

Luckily HireSafe has you covered when it comes to Form I-9. With simple access via the HireSafe Portal, our partner I-9 Advantage electronically validates and stores your company’s form I-9’s for completely compliant validation and easy retrieval under ICE scrutiny. Rest easy knowing that you will always be able to provide ICE auditors with the necessary forms upon request even in the case of vandalism or if other acts destroy the physical files at your business.

If you’re interested in peace of mind with electronic form I-9, fill out the HireSafe Services Consultation and one of our representatives will get back to you shortly!