Let it never be said that bureaucracy ignores the “real world.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has increased the fines for Form I-9 civil violations to account for inflation.
The official announcement was made just last month, and the new fines will be effective for penalties assessed after October 18, 2021, for associated violations that occurred after November 02, 2015.
The increased penalties are as follows:
Civil penalties for I-9 paperwork violations:
- The minimum penalty has increased from $234 last year to $237
- The maximum penalty has increased from $2,332 last year to $2,360
Civil penalties for knowingly hiring, recruiting, referral, or retention of unauthorized aliens:
- The penalty for the first offense has increased from $583-$4,667 to $590-$4,722
- The penalty for the second offense has increased from $4,667-$11,665 to $4,722-$11,803
- The penalty for the third or subsequent offense has increased from $6,999-$23,331 to 7,082-23,607
Avoiding these pricier penalties
Now, in other words, any mistakes made in filling out and filing federal immigration paperwork can be even more costly than before.
Form I-9, also known as the Employment Eligibility Verification form, is a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) form that verifies the identity and employment authorization of all workers that are employed in the U.S.
Employers must complete the form for every worker they hire, or face the risk of heavy penalties. Both employees and employers (or authorized representatives) must complete the form I-9, which consist of three parts:
- Section one is for employee information and attestation, to be completed by the employee.
- Section two is for employers’ review and verification, and is filled by them.
- Section three is for reverification and rehires.
Forms I-9 can be difficult, and untrained or poorly trained staff supervision, or failure to conduct internal audits and catch mistakes can cause mistakes. Some of the most common include incomplete or incorrect form sections, failure to provide or verify supporting documentation, or missed filing deadlines.
Mistakes can lead to heavy fines if an employer is issued a Notice of Inspection by ICE. Is your organization prepared in the case of an I-9 audit?
A best-in-class digital solution can help streamline I-9 compliance and avoid penalties. Tracker I-9 Compliance is the industry’s most advanced I-9 compliance offering. From paper form digitization to ongoing electronic I-9 management, it’s a user-friendly end-to-end compliance solution created by top-ranked immigration experts. In fact, to date it’s maintained a perfect 20+ year track record of zero client fines.
