One must verify that each new employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. Have the employees you hire fill out Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification within three days of hire. Employers do not need to submit the I-9 form with the federal government but are required to keep them on file for three years after the date of hire or one year after the date of employee’s termination, whichever is later.

USCIS’ E-Verify is an electronic program through which employers verify the employment eligibility of their employees after hire. Employers submit information taken from a new hire’s Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification Form) through E-Verify to the Social Security Administration and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to determine whether the information matches government records and whether the new hire is authorized to work in the United States.

Social Security cards issued to people authorized to work in the U.S. should be a pre-requisite. In case of a worker who applied for but has not yet received a Social Security number, you should get the following information as complete as possible: The worker’s full name, address, date of birth, place of birth, father’s full name, mother’s full maiden name, gender and the date he or she applied for a Social Security number.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act, which introduced the I-9 form, also included anti-discrimination provisions. Under the Act, most US citizens, permanent residents, temporary residents or refugees, who are legally allowed to work in the US, cannot be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.