Notes

Immigration Law For Employers
If you own your individual enterprise or otherwise have employees, you are, beneath federal legislation, an agent for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) (previously the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). In Visa Waiver Program to minimize back the hiring of undocumented immigrants, Congress created the I-9 verification process, which requires employers to substantiate the employment eligibility of workers. DHS investigators use these I-9 varieties to determine whether or not employers are hiring undocumented employees.

I-9 varieties are actually a positive factor for employers, as a outcome of I-9 varieties provide employers with a "good religion" defense if the employer hires a worker who is actually working illegally within the United States.

Employers can obtain I-9 varieties from the DHS (800-870-3676), or obtain them from the agency's Web website. You also can write to the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

DHS can start an investigation about a company using illegal employees at any time. An employer could be fined and sanctioned for hiring an undocumented worker. The standard in judging the wrongfulness of the employer's conduct is whether or not an inexpensive person would consider the employee was illegally employed.

Every employer must full I-9 varieties, even if the employer has only one employee. Hiring impartial contractors does not set off the requirement to complete an I-9 type.

If you, as an employer, obtain data and documents that, on their face, seem legitimate and constant, you do not need to analyze additional. However, when you obtain obvious forgeries, info that does not match the employee, or other knowledge that makes you assume you must ask more questions, then you have to proceed your inquiry as to the worker's immigration status.

A good business practice is to conduct yourself an audit or rent an immigration lawyer to audit your I-9's and supporting paperwork to make certain they comply with the legislation. Here are some do's and don'ts when going through the I-9 verification course of:

During an employee's first day, give the employee an inventory of paperwork that can be used to confirm status. Determine if the employee already has employment authorization. Ask questions on name modifications. Make sure paperwork provided by the employee are on the lists of acceptable documents. A good immigration legal professional can help you with these lists. Review paperwork for authenticity. Are there apparent indicators of tampering or forgery? Reject documents if they're clearly fakes. If a doc looks valid on its face and is listed as a certified document on the I-9, settle for the document. Retain I-9's for 3 years, or one year after employment ends, whichever is longer. I-9 types could be inspected by DHS on three days' discover, with out even a warrant or subpoena.


Homepage: https://larhdellaw.com/articles/2023/05/15/visa-waiver-program/