Form I-9

The Form I-9 Process

As required by federal law, the University of Florida (UF) must complete Form I-9 for each individual hired for employment in the United States. The Form I-9’s purpose is to verify an employee’s identity and work authorization in the United States.

• All UF employees complete Form I-9 through GatorStart, UF’s electronic onboarding system.

An employer may only require an employee to complete a Form I-9 when an offer has been made to and accepted by the employee. Requiring an employee to complete the form prior to hire is unlawful and considered as discriminatory by the United States Custom and Immigration Services (USCIS). For additional information, visit the USCIS I-9 Central webpage.

Who Should Complete a Form I-9?

Form I-9 is required of anyone who receives salary or wages from the University of Florida. This includes anyone participating in clinical trials as well as those who receive additional payments.

Who Does Not Need to Complete a Form I-9?

Form I-9 is not required of those who provide labor but are employed through contract services (e.g., temporary agencies or employee leasing) and those who do not physically work on U.S. soil. Courtesy, Fellowship, and ISCR appointments are also exempt from completing the Form I-9.

How to Complete Form I-9 for a New Hire

The Handbook for Employers M-274  is an online resource guide to aid current and new HR department administrators in completing Form I-9 and E-Verify. This guide includes instructions on how to complete each section of the Form I-9, deadlines, retention rules, and examples of completed forms, how to correct errors, and acceptable documents employees can provide.

A few of these resources are provided by these quick shortcuts:

Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Acceptable Documents

Form I-9 is a two-page form comprising three sections. Each section contains different requirements, and failure to comply would result in delayed hiring, transmission of incorrect data to USCIS for E-Verify purposes and civil penalties.

• Section 1 must be completed by the employee on or before the first day of employment.
• Section 2 must be completed by an authorized university representative within three business days of the employee’s start date.
• Form I-9 can be completed as soon as, but not before, a job offer has been extended and accepted.

Reviewing Documents to Complete Section 2 of Form I-9

• The employer must review original documents (i.e. not photocopies of the original documents provided by the new employee).
• The new employee should not provide documents that have expired dates or utilize a work authorization document that have a condition or restriction on it—e.g., a social security card that states “Not Valid for Employment,” “Valid for Work Only with INS Authorization,” or “Valid For Work Only With DHS Authorization.”
• I-9 documents cannot be emailed due to security reasons.
• The new employee cannot fill out any area of Section 2 of their own Form I-9.

Completing a Form I-9 for a New Foreign National Employee

• For a foreign national employee who holds a visa, List A in Section 2 must be completed.
• Please note if an employee has an Employment Authorization Card, it must be presented and used for List A section one, in lieu of any other documents below (passport, I-94, DS2019 and I-20).
• The first section of List A is for recording passport information and the second section is for I-94.
• The third section is to record the employee’s DS2019 information (for J visa holders), I-20 information (for F visa holders) or left blank (for any other visa types).

Re-verifying Form I-9 for the Renewal of an Employee’s Work Authorization

• Section 3 of Form I-9 is used to update work authorization for existing employees who are Non-Resident Alien or Resident Alien or for updating citizenship statuses.
• Review the Re-verifying Existing Employees instruction guide for assistance in completing this section.
• Use a new, blank Form I-9 when completing Section 3 for reverification or updating purposes.
• Do not complete Section 1 or Section 2 when re-verifying.  Only the name at the top of the page needs to be filled out, along with Section 3.
• The hiring department must examine the renewed work authorization and record only the information to be updated in the appropriate fields in this section.
• Submit your case via the I-9 Reverification Portal.

Additional resources on completing the Form I-9 are linked below. For further assistance, please contact Employment Operations & Records at 352-273-1079 or via email at ufhr-employment@ufl.edu.

Resources

• USCIS I-9 Center
• Acceptable Documents
• Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9
• Re-verifying Existing Employees Instruction Guide

Form I-9 Distance Hire Process

The following guidelines are for UF employees who will be working in a location where they do not have access to a UF facility within three business days of the employee’s start date. Distance hire employees must still follow the Form I-9 completion guidelines:

• Section 1 must be completed by the employee on or before the first day of employment.
• Section 2 must be completed by an authorized university representative within three business days of the employee’s start date.
• Form I-9 can be completed as soon as, but not before, a job offer has been extended and accepted.

Please provide the following to your distance hires:

• The Distance Hire Completion Form which provides instructions for the individual completing Section 2 on UF’s behalf. This includes completing the form and presenting original documents to establish identity and employment eligibility.
• Instruct the new employee to seek out an HR professional to assist in the completion of the Form I-9. To locate someone near their area, please contact Employment Operations & Records via email with the zip code of the location the employee is at and we will provide a list of contacts.
• Instruct the distance hire to complete the paper form I-9. For their convenience, please provide a pre-populated Authorized Representative Form I-9 (this form can only be opened with IE browser).
• The new employee must return the completed form with copies of the documents provided to the hiring department.

Once the completed form is received by the hiring department, the Department HR must:

• Upload the paper Form I-9 to I-9 Management using the Upload Paper I-9 button.
• Do not E-Verify the Form I-9 completed by the new employee through the GatorStart packet.

The Form I-9 must be submitted to E-Verify within three days of the employee’s start date.