Complete Form I-9 for new hires

Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) proves that a new hire is allowed to work in the United States.

Create an I-9 for a new hire

Admins can create Form I-9s for employees who self-onboard with any start date—past, present, or future.

To create someone's I-9 when adding them as a new hire:

1. In Gusto, set up self-onboarding for the employee.
   • If you send an offer letter, the employee needs to accept it, then self-onboard. If you onboard the employee yourself, Gusto will not create the I-9.
2. Click the checkbox next to Form I-9.

During self-onboarding, the new employee will enter their own personal details and sign documents, including Form I-9.

Complete the employer portion of Form I-9

The law says you need to verify the employee’s identity and work eligibility by their start date. After the employee finishes self-onboarding, you’ll get email and homepage reminders to complete your part of Form I-9.

To complete Form I-9:

1. On the employee's start date, sign in to your Gusto admin account.
2. Click the Complete Employee I-9 sticky note.
3. Review your new employee’s proof of identification documents that they have physically given to you.
   • For more info on the required documents, read the Eligibility document requirements section of this article.
4. Select which identification and work authorization documents you reviewed.
5. Click Save & Continue.
6. Enter the information from the identification and work authorization documents.
7. Click Save & Continue.
8. Enter your full name and your title at the company. Select I agree to electronically sign this form.
9. Click Sign.

If you need to edit the I-9, you’ll have to do it outside of Gusto. Once done, upload the corrected version to your employee's profile. Check out the USCIS website for best practices when correcting an I-9.

If you hire a remote employee, you need to complete Form I-9 with them by their start date. The form verifies their identity and eligibility to work in the U.S.

Employers need to check the employee's identification and eligibility documents. You have two options for remote employees:

• Work with your remote new hire to do an in-person inspection of their documents, or
• If your company uses E-Verify, you can check their Form I-9 documents remotely.
  • You can learn how to enroll in E-Verify and find more information on remote document checks and keeping records on the Remote Examination page.
  • The USCIS also offers an alternate method for examining documents.

Fill out the I-9 with a remote employee

To fill out the form with a remote employee:

1. Check the full rules for getting, checking, and keeping copies of employee documents on the ICE website.
2. Have your employee fill out Section 1 of the I-9 by their start date.
   • If they self-onboard in Gusto, we’ll ask them to fill out the form in their account.
3. Within 3 days of the employee’s start date, you or an authorized representative need to check the employee’s ID and work documents and fill out Section 2.
   • What to look for: An ID document is okay if it shows who the employee is, looks real, and is not expired.
   • Authorized representative: Anyone you authorize to complete and sign Section 2 on the company's behalf.
   • Get line-by-line guidance for completing Section 2 from ICE.
4. Double-check that every field is filled out and that the information is correct, then sign the form.
5. Store a copy of the eligibility documents and the signed I-9 form for three years, or one year after the employee’s termination — whichever is later.
   • You can store the documents in Gusto. Check out our steps for admins and steps for employees articles.

What to do if you complete Form I-9 late

If you complete Form I-9 more than three days after the start date, fill out the form as soon as you can and write down why it was delayed. If US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) checks your records, they might fine you, and the fines could get bigger with each mistake. It's important to finish these forms quickly and fix any delays right away.

The type of documentation you need to prove employment eligibility depends on the employee's status in the United States. Documents need to be current and not expired.

For more info on these requirements, check out the official I-9 form on the government website.