KLF Client Alert: USCIS Provides Clarification on Form I-9 Signature Requirement
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated the Form I-9’s accompanying instructions in 2023 to state that, in addition to printing the completed form and manually signing it, the employer may choose “to upload the form to an electronic signature solution that complies with [the applicable] regulations, to have all parties sign electronically.”
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) was concerned that USCIS’s vague language of “electronic signature solution” was leading employers to unknowingly violate the regulatory requirements and so they sent a letter to USCIS asking for clarification. Form I-9 violations can result in multi-million-dollar fines, penalties such as debarment, reputational damage to the company, and disrupt operations.
In response to AILA’s inquiry, USCIS recently updated its guidance and advised that,
“[A]lthough the form is fillable, a manual signature is still required.
USCIS also provided a comparison chart to illustrate their recent guidance changes:
|