In April 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would end the COVID-19 temporary policy for List B identity documents that was previously implemented in response to the difficulty individuals were having with renewing documents such as drivers’ licenses and state ID cards during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 1, 2022, employers can no longer accept expired List B documents and will be required to only accept unexpired List B documents.

Further, if an employee presented an expired List B document between May 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022, employers are required to update their Forms I-9 by July 31, 2022. To update the Form I-9, USCIS has instructed employers to have the employee provide an unexpired document that establishes identity by presenting the renewed List B document, a different List B document, or a document from List A. Next, in the “Additional Information” field of Section 2, the employer must enter the document title, issuing authority, number, and expiration date, and must initial and date the change. Employers can refer to the following sample of an updated Form I-9 as per this guidance.

Note that no action is required if the List B document was automatically extended by the issuing authority, so that it was unexpired when presented. For example, some states automatically extended the expiration dates of drivers’ licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. If the employee presented an expired List B document that was auto-extended making it unexpired when presented, the employee is not required to present a valid unexpired List B document. 

Lastly, no action is required if an individual is no longer employed and presented an expired List B document during the specified period above.

By:Krystal Alanis