May I accept an expired document when completing Form I-9?

Editor's Note: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced several temporary policies regarding Form I-9 employment verification due to the COVID-19 outbreak. See Temporary Policies Related to COVID-19. 

No. Expired documents are not accept­able for Form I-9. However, you may accept employment Authorization Documents (Forms I-766) and Permanent Resident Cards (Forms I-551) that appear to be expired on their face, but have been extended by USCIS.

For example, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries whose Employment Authorization Documents (Forms I-766) appear to be expired may be automatically extended in a Federal Register notice. These individuals may continue to work based on their expired Employment Authorization Documents (Forms I-766) dur­ing the automatic extension period specified in the Federal Register notice. When the automatic extension of the Employment Authorization Document (Form I-766) expires, you must reverify the employee's employment authoriza­tion. In addition, you may accept an expired Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551) along with a Form I-797, Notice of Action, that indicates that the card is valid for a specific length of time.

See Acceptable Documents for Verifying Employment Authorization and Identity.

NOTE: Some documents, such as birth certificates and Social Security cards, do not contain an expiration date and should be treated as unexpired.