I will let you in on a little secret: you are not alone.  Upon self-inspection, many employers have found that their I-9 records are riddled with the kind of errors that could result in penalties and fines if they were ever audited by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Department of Justice's Office of Special Council (OSC).   

This one little Form, and its cohort E-Verify, are unimposing enough at first glance, and often lull employers into a false sense of security with their three, seemingly simple, steps. However, the Form and accompanying data matching system (should you participate in E-Verify,) are simply the foundation of a multifaceted process that requires mastery of its concepts and methods to consistently perform properly.  The fact that the "Employers-with-Erroneous-I-9s" club is large, doesn't mean that employers shouldn't be concerned about the liabilities that they could face in the event of an audit. To read more, click here.      

Onboarding an employee is an extravaganza of forms for data collection for the various systems employers use to report upon and process information for their employees such as payroll, organizational design and performance management. These systems require the simple collection of data that the employee may provide in whatever fashion the employer deems most effective. There is one form that is part of the on-boarding process however that, in reality, is not a form at all, but an entire process unto itself: The Form I-9. To read more about Form I-9 Compliance, click here. 

USCIS held a stakeholder engagement on April 24, 2014 to discuss their new expansion of the Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program to L-1 visas. The Administrative Site Visit and Verification Program (ASSVP) is currently used in the H-1B context after case approval and includes, among other things, a review of public records, unannounced site visits, and interviews of the petitioner (or authorized company representative) and beneficiary. To read more, click here.