U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced that I-9 flexibility will be continued for another 60 days, until May 31, 2021.
With this extension, ICE specifically noted that employees hired on or after April 1, 2021 who work exclusively in a remote setting due to COVID-19 related precautions will be exempt from the I-9 physical inspection requirements until they undertake non-remote employment on a “regular, consistent, or predictable basis or until the flexibility policy is terminated which is earlier.”
Next Steps for Employers
Make sure you have maintained a list of all employees who were verified virtually and when they will be returning to work. Determine who will be conducting the in-person verifications and how and when they will be reaching out to the affected employees. Train staff on how to update I-9 forms after the in-person review. For more information, employers may refer to the original March 2020 guidance.
