Recognizing the challenges employees may experience renewing identification documents, such as state driver’s licenses, due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a temporary policy regarding expired List B identity documents used to complete Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification.

Beginning May 1, 2020, identity documents found in List B that are set to expire on or after March 1, 2020, and not otherwise extended by the issuing authority, may be treated the same as if the employee presented a valid receipt for an acceptable document for Form I-9 purposes.

Employers presented with an acceptable expired List B document should:

• Record the document information in Section 2 under List B, as applicable
• And enter the word “COVID-19” in the Additional Information field. 

The employee is required to present a valid unexpired document within 90 days after DHS’s termination of the temporary policy. Upon presentation of the replacement document, employers should:

• Record the number and other required document information from the replacement document
• And initial and change the date.

If the employee’s List B identity document expired on or after March 1, 2020, and the issuing authority has extended the document expiration due to COVID-19, the document is acceptable as a List B document for Form I-9 (not as a receipt) during the extension time frame specified by the issuing authority.

Employers presented with an acceptable extended List B document should:

• Enter the document’s expiration date in Section 2
• And enter “COVID-19 EXT” in the Additional Information field.

DHS also suggests that employers attach a copy of a webpage or other notice indicating that the issuing authority has extended the documents. In the case of extended documents, the employee is not required to present a valid unexpired List B document later.

DHS instructs E-Verify participating employers to use the employee’s expired List B document number from Section 2 of Form I-9 to create an E-Verify case as usual within three days of the date of hire.