This week, Study in the States invites its U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) partner, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to the blog to explain Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. In this three part series, you will learn about Form I-9, how to properly complete it and we answer who needs to complete Form I-9 - one of USCIS’ most frequently asked questions.

In the first part of this series, we explained that all U.S. employers are required to verify the identity and employment eligibility of each employee, and that Form I-9, “Employment Eligibility Verification,” is used for this process. Today, we will discuss how to properly complete Form I-9 that your employer will provide to you.

You are required to complete Section 1 of Form I-9 no later than your first day of work for pay. There is a video on how to complete Section 1 of Form I-9 on USCIS’ website. In Section 1, you enter your name, address and date of birth. If you have been issued a Social Security number (SSN), you should enter it in the appropriate box. You may enter N/A in the boxes for telephone number, email address and SSN if you choose not to provide this information.

In Section 1, you also need to select your citizenship or immigration status. If you are an F or M visa holder you will select, “An alien authorized to work until,” and enter the expiration date of your work authorization. You must also enter one of the following:

• Your Alien number/ USCIS number.
• Or, your Form I-94, “Arrival/Departure Record,” admission number, along with your passport number and the country of issuance.

You must sign and date the form in Section 1, attesting that the information you have entered is correct. If a preparer or translator helped you complete Section 1, there is an area to enter his or her personal information and signature.

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In part three of this series, USCIS will answer a frequently asked question it receives concerning who needs to fill out Form I-9. Visit the Study in the States blog tomorrow to read the final post from USCIS about Form I-9.