The Department of Homeland Security has issued changes to the Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. These changes will be in effect beginning April 3, 2009.

Please be aware of the following issues, regarding I-9s for new hires, and re-verifications for rehires and non-resident alien employees.

1) NEW GOVERNMENT FORM

The new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, will be in effect beginning April 3, 2009. The I-9 Express system in use at Columbia complies with these changes and the I-9 Processing Centers have been updated on the changes.

If your department has a link to the paper I-9 form on your website, please update the information and links to refer people to the automated I-9 system, http://www.newi9.com. All new hires should be referred to this website in order to complete section 1 of the I-9 prior to going to an I-9 Processing Center to complete section 2.

The principal change is that expired documents will no longer be valid for verification purposes of identity of work authorization (this includes expired US Passports).

In addition, the new form separates into two checkboxes: "Citizen of the United States" and "Noncitizen national of the United States." For a complete description of changes, please go to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website and select Form I-9.

In most cases, you should no longer be completing paper I-9s as you should send all new hires and re-verifications to the Centralized I-9 Processing Centers; however, if you are in a unique situation where you need to complete a paper I-9 for an individual, please make sure you are using the revised version Form I-9 (Rev. 02/02/09) N. This form should also be used for any re-verifications. The revised form is available here.

2) CENTRALIZED ELECTRONIC I-9 PROCESSING

The I-9 Processing Centers have been notified of the pending changes, and the I-9 Express system will be compliant with the government changes beginning April 3. As a reminder, please send all new hires—faculty, staff, students (including non-resident alien students), casuals and any others who require an I-9—to one of the University's I-9 Processing Centers, where they will handle the completion of employment eligibility verification required of all new hires.

Re-verification of current non-resident alien employees and rehires, when applicable, should also be completed at one of these processing centers.

The dedicated I-9 Processing Centers are:

Morningside Campus:

• 210 Kent Hall
• 4th Floor Studebaker, 615 West 131st Street

Harlem Hospital:

• Affiliation HR Office 6208

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory:

• 205 Administration

Medical Center:

• CUMC Human Resources - Black Building, Room 101
• Medicine - PH 8 West Room 862
• Mailman School of Public Health - 722 W. 168th, 10th Floor, Suite 1040
• Pediatrics - Children's Hospital CHC Room 104
• Surgery - PH 14, Room 105
• Psychiatry - 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 5
• OB/GYN - PH 16021
• College of Dental Medicine - P&S 7th Floor

Please continue to ask all new hires to fill out Section 1 of the I-9 by visiting our New Hire page, and then come in person to one of the I-9 Processing Centers in order to complete Section 2. Please note: if your new hire does not have a Social Security Number yet, please have him/her go directly to one of the I-9 Processing Centers, and the staff will help complete the I-9.

Although the completion of I-9 forms is handled centrally, you continue to play a critical role in the process, as follows:

• Provide your new personnel and staff with instructions on how to complete section 1 of the I-9.
  
  Human Resources has developed an offer letter for administrative officers and non-union support staff containing complete instructions on how to verify their employment eligibility. 
  
• Follow up with your new academic personnel and administrative staff to ensure they completed their I-9 in a timely manner, since you cannot process any of their other hiring paperwork until they have completed their I-9.
• For departments hiring non-resident alien academic officers:
  1. In addition to the steps above, please photocopy the following documents and include them with the new hire/re-verification paperwork that you submit:
     • * H-1B Visa and I-94
     • * F-1 Visa and I-94 and I20
     • * J-1 Visa and I-94 and DS2019
  2. If the new academic personnel or staff member does not have a Social Security Number, you must continue to attach the receipt letter from the Social Security Administration to the new hire paperwork. If this is not attached, the individual cannot be paid.
  3. C) For non-resident aliens who require reverification, you, not the individuals, will continue to receive notification from HRPC regarding their visa expiration dates. Please make sure that they go to a processing center in a timely fashion, prior to their visa expiration date. It is the department's responsibility to remind the individual to do a new I-9 form prior to the visa expiration date.

PLEASE NOTE: The department must continue to resubmit a PAF with the updated visa expiration date and reappointment.

If you have any questions, please contact the Human Resources Processing Center Help Desk at 212-851-2888, or your Human Resources Client Manager.