Express I-9 Audit
Verifyi9 conducts audits of “Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification” for a variety of reasons including contractor compliance (certified), voluntary internal compliance checks, and due diligence in a merger or acquisition. Employers may use this expedited review process for:
- Contractor compliance for Verizon, FedEx, Publix, others (up to 100 forms);
- Internal (voluntary) compliance review (review only, up to 100 forms).
For larger audits, due diligence reviews, or if you need us to also correct your I-9s, please contact us here.
How It Works
You will send us the forms and, if to be included, copies of the identification documents. How you send the forms will depend on the number to be reviewed and how you store forms. Usually, you will upload PDF copies with this submission. For a larger number of forms, you can share the I-9s with us via a file storage service like Dropbox.
We will send you an email when the review starts. Most audits are started the same business day that we receive the request. When we’re done, we will send another email with a summary of our findings and a link to an online spreadsheet that will list every error, if any, that we found. We will also tell you how to correct those errors.
For a certified audit, we will ask you to confirm that minor errors have been corrected. For more serious issues, we may ask you to resubmit some forms for a second review. Once we have reviewed and approved all forms, we will complete and send the formal certification in the format required by your customer.
Cost
The cost of the review will be $19 per form. Most audits will qualify for a discount based on the number of forms or certain conditions. If we are certifying your I-9s for a client, there will be a charge of $75 to $150 to prepare the certification. First-time audits require payment at the time of the request; we will invoice for certificate renewals on completion.
Verifyi9 I-9 specialists will manually review each I-9 for over 100 specific errors, omissions, and rule violations as found in USCIS rules and regulations; ICE “best practices” and recommendations; the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, as amended; the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended; and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996, as amended; and any successor statutes, laws, rules and regulations thereto. Our review can also help employers improve processes generally by detecting procedural deficiencies related to the completion of Form I-9.
Employers conducting internal compliance audits can use our findings to correct and/or mitigate errors that could result in fines and other penalties following an ICE I-9 inspection.
For certified audits, you will be required to correct the serious errors that caused Form I-9 to fail in its purpose. Our certification will provide your client (Verizon, FedEx, Publix, Walmart, others) with the confidence that your employees who will work on the contract are eligible to work in the United States.
How secure is my employees’ information?
Verifyi9 uses industry-standard equipment and protocols to protect sensitive information. All data is stored on encrypted servers located in the U.S. We retain the info for only as long as we need it to complete the review. Verifyi9 personnel who have access to PII must periodically pass a background check and must agree to comply with applicable policies. We do not use independent contractors in our remote I-9 process; all personnel who have access to your employee’s information are Verifyi9 employees located in the U.S.; vetted, trained, and insured by us; and subject to our data security policies. Read this for more about our data security practices.
Can I use the Express I-9 Audit service to check a sample of our I-9s?
Yes, an employer may choose to review all Forms I9 or a sample of Forms I-9 selected based on neutral and non-discriminatory criteria. If a subset of Forms I-9 is audited, the employer should consider carefully how it chooses Forms I-9 to be audited to avoid discriminatory or retaliatory audits, or the perception of discriminatory or retaliatory audits. Internal audits should not be conducted on the basis of an employee’s citizenship status or national origin, or in retaliation against any employee or employees for any reason. An employer should also consider whether the audit is or could be perceived to be discriminatory or retaliatory based on its timing, scope, or selective nature.
Will an Express I-9 Audit eliminate all errors and the potential for a fine in an ICE inspection?
By law, the employer retains all responsibility and liability for completing and maintaining Form I-9, and that liability cannot be assigned to a third party. While Verifyi9 will review your I-9s to identify over 100 errors, omissions, and rule violations, many of which can result in monetary penalties after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) inspection, the employer is responsible for correcting forms reviewed via this service. Employers who use our findings to correct the forms according to USCIS rules and ICE “best practices” can minimize or eliminate fines in the event of an ICE inspection.
Should I include identification documents in the review?
If you retained copies of new hires’ identification documents with the I-9, including them in the uploaded file will allow us to conduct a more thorough review. Certified audits: Some certifications require us to indicate whether or not we also reviewed ID documents.
I don’t have any I-9s. Can I just sent copies of my employees’ ID?
No. Employers are required to complete Form I-9 for all new hires and keep the form, updating or correcting it as necessary, for as long as the worker is employed and for a short time afterward. Failure to do so is a serious error that will result in a hefty fine, probation, and other penalties if discovered by ICE. And if a client is requiring a certified audit, you will lose that contract if you do not fix the problem quickly. We can complete Form I-9 for you, quickly, conveniently, and legally. Request service here or contact us with your questions.
Why is there a difference in the cost of certificate preparation?
To keep the cost of a certified audit as low as possible, Verifyi9 uses an automated process to generate the certification. We charge more when an employer provides a custom certificate template that must be completed manually.