Due to continued precautions related to COVID-19, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extended the flexibility in the rules related to Form I-9 to March 31, 2021. Employers may inspect the Section 2 documents remotely (e.g., video link, fax or email, etc.). However, this flexibility only applies to employers who are operating 100% remotely. Employers must write, ‘Remote Inspection Completed On’ and the date in the Additional Comments Section of Section 2. Once normal operations resume, employees who were onboarded using remote verification must present their original documents to their employer within three business days. Once acceptable documents have been physically inspected, the employer should add ‘Documents Physically Examined” with the date of inspection to the Additional Information field in Section 2. Enter “COVID-19” as the reason for the physical inspection delay. For examples of how to notate the I-9 for remote inspection and for when normal operations resume, please see links below:
