Form I-9 acceptable documents and deadlines for staffing agencies

Who completes Form I-9 in a staffing arrangement

USCIS is clear: a staffing agency completes Form I-9 for each worker it provides, because the workers are employees of the agency, not of the client. The client does not complete Form I-9 for workers supplied by a temporary agency. The agency may complete the form before the worker accepts a particular assignment.

You can use an authorized representative to examine documents, but you remain liable for any violations they commit on your behalf. An employee cannot act as their own authorized representative.

Which edition to use

The current edition of Form I-9 is dated 01/20/25. The 08/01/23 edition with an expiration date of 05/31/2027 can also still be used. The 08/01/23 edition that expired on 07/31/2026 can no longer be used. The edition date is printed at the bottom of every page, and all pages must come from the same edition.

Deadlines

Step	Who	Deadline
Section 1	The employee	No later than the first day of employment
Section 2	The employer or authorized representative	Within three business days of the first day of employment (a Monday start means Thursday)
Section 2, jobs under three business days	The employer	No later than the first day of employment
E-Verify case	E-Verify employers	No later than the third business day after the employee starts work for pay

You may not ask for documents to verify what the employee entered in Section 1, and E-Verify cannot be used to prescreen applicants: a case can only be created after the job offer is accepted and Form I-9 is complete.

Acceptable documents

The employee chooses which documents to present: one document from List A, or one from List B plus one from List C. You cannot specify which ones. For a physical examination, documents must be unexpired originals, and you must accept any document that reasonably appears genuine and relates to the person presenting it.

List A: identity and employment authorization

U.S. passport or passport card
Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551)
Foreign passport with a temporary I-551 stamp, or a temporary I-551 printed notation on a machine-readable immigrant visa
Employment Authorization Document with photograph (Form I-766)
Foreign passport with Form I-94 showing a work-authorized status, in limited categories
Passport from the Federated States of Micronesia or the Republic of the Marshall Islands, with Form I-94

List B: identity only

Driver’s license or ID card issued by a state or U.S. territory
ID card issued by a federal, state or local government agency
School ID card with a photograph, or a voter registration card
U.S. military card or draft record, or a military dependent’s ID card
U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Card, a Native American tribal document, or a driver’s license issued by a Canadian government authority
For employees under 18 who cannot present any of these: a school record or report card, a clinic, doctor or hospital record, or a day-care or nursery school record

E-Verify employers may only accept a List B document that contains a photograph.

List C: employment authorization only

U.S. Social Security card, unless it is marked with a work restriction
Certification of Report of Birth issued by the Department of State (Form DS-1350, FS-545 or FS-240)
Original or certified copy of a U.S. birth certificate bearing an official seal
Native American tribal document
U.S. Citizen ID Card (Form I-197), or Identification Card for Use of Resident Citizen in the United States (Form I-179)
Employment authorization documents issued by the Department of Homeland Security

The full lists are on USCIS’s acceptable documents page.

Receipts and expired work permits

You must accept an acceptable receipt unless the job will last less than three business days. There are three kinds:

A receipt for an application to replace a lost, stolen or damaged document: valid for 90 days from the date of hire.
The arrival portion of Form I-94 with a temporary I-551 stamp and photo: valid until the stamp expires, or one year from admission if it has no expiration date.
The departure portion of Form I-94 with an unexpired refugee admission stamp: valid for 90 days.

Automatic extensions of Employment Authorization Documents ended for renewal applications filed on or after October 30, 2025. For those renewals, the Form I-797C receipt notice is not evidence of employment authorization, alone or with an expired EAD. Older guidance saying otherwise is out of date for most renewals.

Remote document examination

E-Verify employers in good standing can examine documents remotely under the DHS-authorized alternative procedure. To use it, you must be enrolled in E-Verify for every hiring site that uses it and use E-Verify for new hires there.

Examine copies of the documents (front and back if two-sided) to confirm they reasonably appear genuine and relate to the employee.
Hold a live video call where the employee presents the same documents.
Check the alternative procedure box in the Additional Information field of Section 2.
Keep clear copies of every document examined, front and back, for the full retention period.
Create an E-Verify case for the new hire.

If you offer remote examination at a hiring site, offer it consistently to everyone there. You may limit it to remote hires, but not in a way that discriminates by citizenship, immigration status or national origin.

Reverification, retention and penalties

Reverification (Supplement B): complete it no later than the date the employee’s employment authorization, or their employment authorization document, expires, whichever comes first. USCIS recommends notifying the employee at least 90 days ahead. Do not reverify U.S. citizens, noncitizen nationals, lawful permanent residents who presented a Form I-551, or List B documents.
Retention: keep each Form I-9 for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. Remote examination employers must also keep the document copies for the same period.

Violation	Civil penalty
Paperwork violations	$288 to $2,861 per form
Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers, first offense	$716 to $5,724 per worker
Second offense	$5,724 to $14,308 per worker
Third or later offense	$8,586 to $28,619 per worker

These are the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts in 8 CFR 274a.10. The 2026 adjustments were cancelled, so the 2025 levels still apply.

Frequently asked questions

Who completes Form I-9 for a temporary worker, the agency or the client?

The staffing agency. USCIS says the agency completes Form I-9 for each worker it provides, because the workers are the agency’s employees, not the client’s.

When is Section 2 of Form I-9 due?

Within three business days of the employee’s first day of employment. For a job lasting less than three business days, Section 2 is due by the first day of employment.

Can a staffing agency check I-9 documents remotely?

Yes, if it is an E-Verify employer in good standing using E-Verify at that hiring site. It examines copies of the documents, holds a live video call where the employee presents them, checks the alternative procedure box in Section 2 and keeps copies.

Is an expired EAD with a renewal receipt still acceptable?

For most renewals filed on or after October 30, 2025, no. Automatic EAD extensions ended for those applications, and the Form I-797C receipt notice is not evidence of employment authorization.

Collecting these documents without the chasing

Getting Docs asks each candidate for exactly the documents they still owe, over WhatsApp or email, checks that what comes back is the right document and can be read, and files it onto the candidate’s record in your ATS. It does not carry out the checks in this guide for you: the verification and the decision stay with your compliance team. It makes sure the documents are in front of them.

See how it works for healthcare staffing, light industrial staffing, construction staffing, cdl drivers staffing, home care staffing, education staffing, security staffing, engineering and manufacturing staffing and aviation staffing, or book a short call.

Related guides

Healthcare staffing credentialing checklist for travel and per diem clinicians: What a US healthcare staffing agency verifies before placing a travel or per diem nurse or allied professional: licenses, Nursys and the NLC, BLS and ACLS, TB, immunizations, exclusions, background checks and Joint Commission certification.

Official sources

This guide was checked against these sources on October 2, 2026:

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules, fees and document lists change: check the official sources above before you rely on any detail, and take advice for your own situation.