The new E-Verify rule for federal contractors has a lot of employers wondering exactly who’s covered by the requirement — and what they have to do now.

To clear up some of the confusion, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published answers to a few of HR’s most common questions about federal contractors and E-Verify:

1. Who’s affected by the rule?

Companies will be required to use E-Verify when they enter into federal contracts with a work period of longer than 120 days and a value of more than $100,000. Also, subcontractors are covered by the rule when the prime contract meets those requirements and the subcontract is for services or construction with a value over $3,000.

2. Which employees must be verified?

Covered contractors are required to verify all new hires, as well as any existing employees assigned to the government contract. That includes employees who perform “substantial duties” under the contract, as opposed to those performing overhead or support work.

3. When do we have to enroll?

The rule went into effect on September 8. Any applicable federal contract signed after that date must include an “E-Verify clause” that requires contractors to use the system.

Companies not already signed up for E-Verify have to enroll within 30 days of being awarded the contract and must begin verifying new hires and current employees working on the contract within 90 days.

Of course, companies can sign up whenever they want, so current or prospective federal contractors might as well enroll before they’re required to.

When you enroll, choose “federal contractor” when asked, “Which category best describes your organization?”

4. What if we already have a government contract?

You won’t be required to sign up for E-Verify until you sign a new contract that contains the E-Verify clause.

5. We already enrolled in E-Verify, but not as a contractor? Do we have to re-enroll?

No, but if you aren’t enrolled as a federal contractor, you will need to update your company profile to categorize your company as a contractor.

For more information from USCIS, click here.

If you want to be sure you’re using the latest version, make sure it’s dated August 7, 2009. The form will expire August 31, 2012.

A few reminders on using the I-9:

• You can use Form I-9 with the revision date of either August 7, 2009, or February 2, 2009, for all new hires or re-verifications. The two are essentially the same.
• Even though there’s a new version, you do not need to complete new forms for existing employees for whom an I-9 has been properly completed.
• All documents presented during the verification process must be unexpired and employers can require only documents specified under the law. In other words, requiring “special” extraordinary documentation from some employees would leave you open to civil and criminal penalties.

The new form and instructions are available at the USCIS Web site.

USCIS has verified that the current version of the I-9  — dated February 2, 2009 — will remain valid beyond what was suppose to be its June 30, 2009,  expiration date.

USCIS is in the process of reviewing and releasing a new version of the I-9. Until the new form is released, employers must continue to use the current version of the form to confirm employees’ authorization to work in the United States.

The current English-language version of Form I-9 can be downloaded in PDF format here.

Note: The Spanish version of the form is available here, but its official use is limited only to employers in Puerto Rico. All other employers may use it only as a reference or to assist employees, but not for official use.

USCIS is delaying implementation until at least April 3. (See a summary of the rule.)

The delay will provide The Department of Homeland Security more time to consider whether the rule will have the effect of tightening illegal employment. And the delay gives the public, employers and industry groups time to submit comments — until March 4. A notice announcing the delay was placed in the Federal Register.

Employers must complete a Form I-9 for all newly hired employees to verify their identity and authorization to work in the United States. The interim final rule will amend regulations governing the types of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents employees may present to their employers for completion of the Form I-9. Under the interim rule, employers will no longer be able to accept expired documents to verify employment authorization on the Form I-9.

The procedure for making comments is here.

As described in our January 9 story, “New I-9 deadline Feb. 2: Are you ready?” The USCIS has published an interim final rule that narrows the list of documents employers may accept to verify employment authorization on the I-9 form. The revised Form I-9 becomes effective on February 2, 2009. At that time, employers will be required to use only the new form to verify the employment eligibility of new hires and reverify existing employees where necessary.

USCIS has published a final version of the I-9 form, a copy of which is available here, along with instructions.

The current version of the I-9 form, dated June 5, 2007, will no longer be available after the interim final rule takes effect on February 2, 2009.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) submitted to the Federal Register an interim final rule to revise Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. Among other changes, the rule narrows the list of acceptable identity and employment authorization documents. 

The rule and the revised Form I-9 were published in the Federal Register on December 17 and will take effect February 2, 2009. 

Documents removed from and added to List A
USCIS has removed three documents from List A that can no longer be used to establish both identity and employment authorization because these documents are now obsolete:

• Form I-688 Employment Authorization Document
• Form I-688A Employment Authorization Document
• Form I-688B Employment Authorization Document 

USCIS has added three documents to List A:

• A temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa in addition to the foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp
• A passport from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) or the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) with a valid Form I-94 or Form I-94A indicating nonimmigrant admission under the Compact of Free Association Between the United States and the FSM or RMI
• A U.S. passport card

Expired documents of any type are not acceptable documentation for the revised Form I-9.

Employee attestation section
In Section 1 of the revised Form I-9 – ”citizen of the United States” and “noncitizen national of the United States” — will now be two separate categories. Noncitizen nationals are persons born in American Samoa, certain former citizens of the former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and certain children of noncitizen nationals born abroad.

Availability of the revised Form I-9
Beginning 45 days after publication of the rules in the Federal Register, the USCIS Web site — www.uscis.gov — will offer the revised Form I-9 and an updated Handbook for Employers, Instructions for Completing the Form I-9 (M-274), to reflect the revisions to Form I-9.

Click here for FAQs about the revised Form I-9.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that the new U.S. passport card may be used as a valid “List A” document to complete Form I-9 during the employment eligibility verification process. Here’s how employees can get the card. 

Some facts about the card:

• The U.S. Department of State began producing passport cards on July 14, 2008, and has already received more than 350,000 applications.
• The passport card carries the same rights and privileges of the U.S. passport book and legally attests to the U.S. citizenship and identity of the holder, but the card cannot be used to travel by air. It can be used to enter the U.S. at all land and seaports when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
• The passport card is a significantly cheaper, faster and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book.

First-time applicants can apply for a passport card at any Passport Application Acceptance Facility throughout the country. To find the one nearest you go to http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/.

The cost for a card is $45 for adults and $35 for children under 16. Adults with fully valid passport books issued within the last 15 years can apply for the card by mail using Form DS-82, at a cost of only $20. Get additional passport card information on the U.S. Department of State Web site at http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html.