UPDATE: On May 14, 2020, the administration announced that the temporary change noted below that was due to expire on May 19th regarding I-9 form completion is being extended an additional 30 days. Further 30 day extensions were granted, through August 19, 2020.
For employers that have transitioned their employees to working remotely due to COVID-19, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has announced a temporary relaxation of the requirement for in-person inspection of work authorization documents when completing the I-9 form during onboarding of new employees who will be working remotely. Employers will still need to see the employees’ documents transmitted electronically, and attach copies to the I-9 form.
Additionally, once the workplace resumes normal operations, the employee must present the original work authorization documents to the employer.
See the details, including specifics about which employers can take advantage of this temporary change, here, and guidance from the Society for Human Resource Management here.