Form I-9 and new-hire reporting Two forms for every new employee

Two forms, two purposes

Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, confirms who the person is and that they may work in the United States. You keep it on file. USCIS says employers must have a Form I-9 on file for every person on the payroll.

The new-hire report tells your state that you hired someone. The state uses it to find parents who owe child support. You send it to the state.

Neither one is a tax form. Form W-4 is the tax form for the first week. Hiring your first employee lists all of the first-week items together. Contractors do not get a Form I-9 or a Form W-4. Independent contractor vs employee is the label test.

Form I-9: who fills out what, and when

The USCIS page on completing Form I-9 sets the two deadlines.

• Section 1 is the employee’s part. The employee completes it no later than the first day of work for pay.
• Section 2 is your part. You complete it no later than the third business day after the employee starts work for pay.

Say the employee starts on a Monday. Section 1 is due Monday. Section 2 is due Thursday, if no holiday falls in between.

A short job has a tighter rule. 8 CFR 274a.2 says that if the job lasts less than three business days, you finish the document check and Section 2 at the time of hire. You cannot accept a receipt in place of a document in that case.

Form I-9: the documents

The employee chooses which documents to show you, from the lists on the form. The USCIS acceptable documents page gives two ways.

• One document from List A. A List A document shows both identity and permission to work. Examples are a U.S. passport or passport card, a Permanent Resident Card, and an Employment Authorization Document with a photo. USCIS says an employee who shows an acceptable List A document should not be asked for any other document.
• One document from List B and one from List C. List B shows identity, such as a driver’s license or state ID card. List C shows permission to work, such as a Social Security card without work restrictions or a certified U.S. birth certificate.

You look at the documents and record them in Section 2. The USCIS completion page covers what to do if a document does not look real.

Copies are your choice. 8 CFR 274a.2 says you may copy the documents, but you do not have to. A copy does not replace completing Section 2.

Form I-9: how long to keep it

8 CFR 274a.2 sets the rule. Keep each Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire, or one year after the job ends, whichever is later.

• Hired January 2026, left March 2026: keep it until January 2029. Three years after hire is later.
• Hired January 2026, left June 2030: keep it until June 2031. One year after the job ends is later.

Common Form I-9 mistakes

• Letting Section 1 slide past the first day. The employee’s part is due no later than the first day of work for pay, not the first payday.
• Missing the third business day. Count business days, not calendar days. A Friday start puts Section 2 on the next Wednesday, if no holiday falls in between.
• Asking for more than the rules allow. USCIS says an employee who shows an acceptable List A document should not be asked for any other document.
• Treating a copy as the form. 8 CFR 274a.2 says making a copy of a document does not relieve you of completing Section 2.
• Throwing a form away too soon. Do the retention math for each worker who leaves, using the later of the two dates.
• Accepting a receipt on a short job. When the job lasts less than three business days, 8 CFR 274a.2 says you may not accept a receipt in place of a document.

New-hire reporting

The federal Office of Child Support Services explains this on its new-hire reporting page. Employers report basic information on new and rehired employees within 20 days of hire. Some states require it sooner. A private employer reports to its State Directory of New Hires. Child support agencies use the reports to find parents who owe support and to send income withholding orders.

Note the word rehired. If someone comes back after leaving, report them again.

Your state sets the fields and the portal. The state page on this site names the portal for your state.

New-hire clocks and extras by state

The 20-day federal line is the outer limit. States can be faster, and some add people the federal rule does not.

• California, New Jersey, Oregon, Indiana, and Arkansas: new hire in 20 days. Arkansas takes the report on Tax21.
• Georgia: new hire in 10 days. Do not use Georgia’s clock in another state.
• New York: a separate new-hire report that can include some contractors.
• Illinois, Massachusetts, and Ohio: some people you call contractors also go on a new-hire report.
• Florida: the new-hire report can include a contractor paid $600 or more in a year.

Those contractor reports are state child-support rules. They are not the IRS worker test, and they do not make a contractor an employee.

A first-week checklist

1. Day one: the employee completes Section 1 of Form I-9 and Form W-4. Collect any state withholding form your state uses.
2. By the third business day: look at the original documents and complete Section 2.
3. Within your state’s new-hire clock, 20 days or less: send the new-hire report.
4. File the Form I-9 in your I-9 folder. Put the retention date on it.
5. Before the first payday: confirm the state tax accounts are open. How to register for state payroll taxes covers that.

A family hiring a nanny follows the same Form I-9 rule. IRS Publication 926 says you and a household employee each complete Form I-9 when you hire on a regular basis. Nanny payroll covers the rest.

Software and these forms

Some payroll plans collect Form W-4 online and send the new-hire report, on the plans whose help pages say so. Form I-9 Section 2 still needs you to look at the documents. How much payroll services cost compares plan prices.

The methodology page grades new-hire reporting as one of the three letters. Gusto is one plain link. Patriot is the other service on this site.