I-9 Audit & Compliance Attorneys in Santa Ana

Helping Businesses Identify & Address Issues at Every Stage

U.S. Immigration Law Group, LLP is a full-service immigration law firm, built on integrity and committed to providing exceptional service to our clients and our community. Our goal is to relieve clients of the burdens and stress the U.S. Immigration process can cause, especially through I-9 compliance for employers. To this end, we assist employers in developing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with Federal laws and minimize the risk of penalties and fines if ever subject to an I-9 audit.

Call (714) 786-1166 today to discuss your needs with our Santa Ana I-9 audit and compliance lawyers. 

I-9 Compliance Requirements

U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens as well as non-citizens.

On the Form I-9, both the employee and the employer must make certain assertions:

• The employee states that he or she is legally authorized to work in the United States.
• The employer must examine the original employment eligibility and identity document(s) which the employee presents to determine whether the document(s) reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the individual. The employer must then record the document information on the Form I-9.

Helping You Avoid I-9 Violations

There are civil and criminal penalties to the employer for knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized worker. There are also fines for technical violations, such as incorrectly completing the I-9 form.

U.S. Immigration Law Group, LLP can assist companies with verifying that their Forms I-9 are in compliance. Our trained Santa Ana I-9 audit & compliance lawyers can identify omissions, inconsistencies, and errors made that may subject the business to fines or penalties prior to a government audit. It is prudent and often cost-effective to review I-9s for compliance prior to these records being subject to inspection, though we recognize that this may not always be possible.

Form I-9 Inspections

Employers are generally provided with a Notice of Inspection at least three days before the inspection. However, the officials may choose to use warrants and subpoenas to obtain the forms without providing three days’ notice. The officials typically choose where they will conduct the inspection, and employers must make Forms I-9 available upon request at the specified location.

At the time of an I-9 inspection, you must:

• Retrieve and reproduce only the Form I-9 and supporting documentation specifically requested by the inspecting officer. Supporting documentation includes associated audit trails that show the actions performed during a given period of time.
• Provide the inspecting officer with appropriate hardware and software, personnel, and documentation necessary to locate, retrieve, read, and reproduce the following: a) Any electronically stored Forms I-9, b) Any supporting documents and their associated audit trails, and c) Other data used to maintain the authenticity, integrity, and reliability of the records.
• Provide the inspecting officer, if requested, any reasonably available or obtainable electronic summary file(s), such as spreadsheets, containing all of the information fields on all of the electronically stored Forms I-9.

Should your company receive an inspection notice from the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Special Counsel, or the Department of Labor, please call our Santa Ana I-9 audit & compliance lawyers immediately.