What is the proper way to correct a mistake made when copying a Social Security Number to a Form I-9?

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Agency (USCIS) has recently updated its Handbook for Employers to answer this and many other common questions posed by employers when verifying employment eligibility.

According to the Handbook, if an employer discovers an error in the form, it must bring itself into compliance immediately. If the error is in Section 1 of the form, the employee should correct the error. If the error is in Section 2, only the employer may correct the information.

To correct Form I-9:

• Draw a line through the incorrect information.
• Enter the correct information.
• Initial and date your correction.
  

Never conceal any changes made on the form. Doing so may lead to increased liability under federal immigration law.

More specific directions when there have been omissions on the form are as follows:

Section 1

If you discover that information has been omitted from Section 1, the employee should:

• Enter the omitted information.
• Initial and date near the newly entered information.

The employer should:

• Attach a written explanation of what happened.

​Section 2 and 3

If the employer discovers that information has been omitted from Section 2 or 3, the employer should:

• Enter the omitted information.
• Initial and date the same area.
• Attach a written explanation of what happened (helpful but not required).

If an employer failed to enter the date of completion, the form should not be back dated. The employer should enter the current date and initial by the date field.

If there are multiple recording errors on the form, you may redo the section on a new Form I-9 and attach it to the old form.

A new Form I-9 can be completed if major errors (such as entire sections were left blank or Section 2 was completed based on unacceptable documents) needed to be corrected. A note should be attached to the employee's Form I-9 regarding the reason changes were made to an existing Form I-9 or a new Form I-9 was completed.

The newest version of the Handbook is available on the USCIS website.

You can find more information in the I-9 Form: Verifying Eligibility s​ection of the HR Library.​