Immigrants
Editor's Note: If you employ individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua or Sudan who have Temporary Protected Status, their documentation can be extended through January 4, 2021. Please read the guidance below, which is courtesy of immigration law firm Monty & Ramirez. Contact them for more information at info@montyramirezlaw.com or 281-493-5529.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a Federal Register notice extending the validity of TPS-related documentation for beneficiaries under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan through January 4, 2021.
The notice automatically extends the validity of Employment Authorization Documents; Forms I-797, Notice of Action; and Forms I-94, Arrival/Departure Record. Employers, please note that for I-9 purposes, the automatic extension means that as long as the employee presents their Employment Authorization Document, you may list the January 04, 2021 date as the new validity date. An employer is required by law to ask employees to verify that they are still authorized to work.
Once proof is presented, the employer should correct the EAD expiration date in Section 2 of Form I-9. An employee may show the Federal Register notice to his or her employer to explain what to do for Form I-9 and to show that the EAD has been automatically extended through January 4, 2021. You may need to re-inspect the automatically extended EAD to check the Card Expires date and Category code if you did not keep a copy of your employee’s EAD initially. The last day of the automatic extension for your employee’s EAD is January 4, 2021. Before your employee starts work on January 5, 2021, it is your responsibility as an employer to re-verify employment authorization in Section 3 of Form I-9.
For Section 1, you should:
a. Check “An alien authorized to work until” and enter January 4, 2021, as the expiration date indicated in the chart; and
b. Enter the USCIS number or A-Number where indicated (the EAD or other document from DHS will have the USCIS number or A-Number printed on it; the USCIS number is the same as the A-Number without the A prefix).
For Section 2, the employer should:
a. Write in the document title;
b. Enter the issuing authority;
c. Enter either the employee's A-Number or USCIS number from Section 1 in the Document Number field on Form I-9; and
d. Write January 4, 2021, as the expiration date indicated in the chart.
Before the start of work on January 5, 2021, employers are required by law to re-verify the employee's employment authorization in Section 3 of Form I-9.
You can find more information here.
For more information, please contact the experienced immigration attorneys at Monty & Ramirez LLP at 281-493-5529 or via email at info@montyramirezlaw.com.