Overview
- ICE’s updated inspection fact sheet now treats many once‑technical Form I‑9 mistakes as substantive violations that count toward fines and cannot be corrected during an audit.
- Errors newly flagged as substantive include a missing date of birth in Section 1, an undated employer signature in Section 2, a missing hire or rehire date, incomplete document details, and use of the Spanish form outside Puerto Rico.
- Fines rise with the share of substantive errors across reviewed forms, with reported penalties of $288 to $2,861 per form and adjustments based on business size, good faith, seriousness, unauthorized workers, and prior violations.
- Remote and electronic workflows face added risk, including fines for using DHS’s alternative remote review without E‑Verify enrollment or the required checkbox and for e‑I‑9 systems that lack audit trails or compliant e‑signatures.
- Inspections start with a Notice of Inspection that gives employers three business days to produce I‑9s, so counsel and HR advisors are urging proactive audits, training, and tighter recordkeeping before ICE asks for files.