Form I-9 Section 2 instructions: each field, the deadline, and what goes in Additional Information

Section 2 of Form I-9 is the employer's part. You, or an authorized representative you designate, examine the original documents the new employee chooses to present (one List A document, or one List B plus one List C document), record each document's title, issuing authority, number and expiration date, enter the employee's first day of employment, and sign the certification. It is due within three business days after the first day of work for pay, or by the end of the first day if the job will last less than three business days. As of November 2026 the current edition is the one dated 01/20/25 on uscis.gov/i-9.

This page goes through Section 2 one field at a time, including the parts most guides skip: what belongs in Additional Information, which date to use when a start date moves, and whose name and address go in the certification block. For the documents themselves, see I-9 List A, B and C documents; for the employee's half of the form, see Form I-9 Section 1 instructions.

What does each Section 2 field ask for?

The 01/20/25 edition puts Sections 1 and 2 on the same page, so there is no separate block for copying the employee's name into Section 2. In Section 2, leave any field blank if it does not apply; the instructions do not ask for "N/A" there.

When is Section 2 due, and how early can you start it?

The deadline is three business days after the first day of work for pay: an employee who starts on Monday must have Section 2 completed by Thursday. For a job that will last less than three business days, Section 2 is due by the end of the first day, and receipts cannot be accepted in place of documents. You may complete it earlier, at any point after the employee has accepted the offer and completed Section 1, but never before the offer is accepted. The M-274 also says you may terminate an employee who fails to present acceptable documents, or an acceptable receipt, within three business days of starting. Form I-9 timing in hiring has a business-day table for every start day.

How do you complete Section 2, step by step?

1. Review Section 1 first. If you spot an error or a gap, the employee corrects it and initials and dates the change. You may not fix it for them or ask for documents to prove what they entered.
2. Make the Lists of Acceptable Documents available and let the employee choose. You cannot specify documents, and if the employee presents an acceptable List A document you may not ask for List B and C as well.
3. Examine the originals in the employee's physical presence, or over live video under the DHS alternative procedure if your E-Verify site qualifies. Photocopies are not acceptable for physical examination, except a certified copy of a birth certificate. Accept a document that reasonably appears genuine and relates to the person; if one does not, reject that document and let the employee present another from the lists.
4. Record each document in its column: title, issuing authority, number and expiration date, if any, as they appear on the document.
5. Add required notes in Additional Information, each initialed and dated.
6. Enter the first day of employment.
7. Complete the certification block. The same person who examined the documents enters their last name, first name and title, signs, enters today's date, and adds the business name and address.
8. Return the documents to the employee. If your policy is to keep copies, copy them for every new hire, regardless of citizenship or national origin, and keep them with the form.

How do you record the most common document combinations?

A filled-in example for the second row, with placeholders instead of real numbers:

Example only
List B  Document Title 1:   VA DL
        Issuing Authority:  Virginia DMV
        Document Number:    [license number]
        Expiration Date:    [mm/dd/yyyy from the license]
List C  Document Title 1:   SS Card
        Issuing Authority:  SSA
        Document Number:    [number on the card]
        Expiration Date:    (blank: the card has none)
First Day of Employment:    [first day of paid work]
Certification: [examiner's last name, first name, title], signature,
               today's date, business name, physical business address

What belongs in the Additional Information box?

The instructions describe it as the place for any additional information required to complete Section 2 and for updates after Section 2 is done. The M-274 lists the notes DHS expects there:

• Extensions of employment authorization. "EAD EXT" with the new date for an automatically extended EAD, such as a TPS-based EAD extended by notice or an F-1 STEM OPT extension; "CAP-GAP" with March 31 of the relevant year for an F-1 student whose H-1B petition is pending; "240-Day Ext." with the Form I-129 filing date for an H-1B extension with the same employer; and "AC-21" with the filing date for an H-1B worker who changed employers.
• Replacement documents. When an employee who presented a receipt brings the actual document, cross out "Receipt" and record the new document here.
• F-1 and J-1 details, such as the SEVIS number and program end date from Form I-20 or DS-2019, where required. See Form I-9 for F-1 OPT students.
• IMAGE discrepancies that E-Verify participants in ICE's IMAGE program must note.
• Optional business notes, such as termination dates, retention dates and E-Verify case numbers.

For extension notes on a current employee whose original form is an edition that is no longer valid, the M-274 says to make the note in Section 2 of a current edition and keep that page with the original form.

Which date goes in First Day of Employment?

USCIS defines it as the commencement of employment for wages or other remuneration, and its Completing Section 2 page allows three cases:

• A current date, when Section 2 is completed on the first day of paid work.
• A past date, when Section 2 is completed after the person started: enter the actual first day of paid work, not the day you sign.
• A future date, when Section 2 is completed between offer acceptance and the start: enter the expected start date, and if the person starts on a different day, cross it out, write the correct date, and initial and date the correction.

Staffing agencies may use either the date a new employee is assigned to their first job or the date the employee accepts an offer and is entered into the assignment pool. E-Verify's guidance adds that agencies should not leave the field blank and should use the same choice consistently; see Form I-9 for staffing agencies. Recruiters and referrers for a fee, which for Form I-9 purposes means only agricultural associations, agricultural employers and farm labor contractors, do not enter a first day at all. Among its general tips, USCIS says the date should match payroll records.

Who signs the certification, and which address do you use?

The signer attests under penalty of perjury that they examined the documents, that the documents appear genuine and relate to the employee, and that to the best of their knowledge the employee is authorized to work. Three rules follow from the M-274's Sections 2.0 and 4.0:

• The examiner signs. The same person who examined the documents completes the certification fields and signs. An HR lead cannot sign for a site manager who looked at the documents.
• A representative is allowed, but the liability stays with you. You may designate anyone, without a contract: a personnel officer, a foreman, an agent, a notary. A notary acting as your representative is not performing a notarial act and should not add a seal. The employee can never be their own representative. See I-9 authorized representatives.
• Today's Date means today. It is the date the documents were examined and the certification signed, never the hire date.

For the address, enter the business's physical street address, city or town, state and ZIP code; if the location is not in a city or town, the village, county, township or reservation. A P.O. box is not allowed. If you have several locations, USCIS says to use the address that best identifies the employer's location for that employee and their Form I-9 completion, such as the address where the form is completed.

What changes if you use E-Verify?

• Any List B document you accept must contain a photograph.
• You must enter the documents in E-Verify accurately as they appear on Form I-9 and its lists, so Section 2 errors become case errors.
• You must keep copies of a U.S. passport, passport card, Permanent Resident Card or EAD if the employee chooses to present one; these are the documents E-Verify uses for photo matching.
• Only E-Verify employers in good standing may use the alternative procedure, and only at their E-Verify hiring sites. Section 4.5 sets the steps; I-9 remote verification explains them.

ICE's Form I-9 inspection fact sheet, updated August 31, 2026, treats a missing business name or address as a technical failure you get at least ten business days to correct, but a missing document title, number or expiration date, first day of employment, examiner name, title, signature or date, or an unchecked or unsupported alternative-procedure box, as substantive. See I-9 penalties.

A Section 2 checklist

• Offer accepted and Section 1 complete before anyone examines documents.
• Employee chose the documents from the lists; nobody named one for them.
• Originals examined; only one route recorded (List A, or List B plus List C).
• Every document row has a title, issuing authority, and number and expiration date where the document has them.
• Additional Information notes initialed and dated.
• Alternative procedure box checked only for an E-Verify site that followed every step.
• First day of employment matches payroll.
• Examiner's name, title, signature and today's date; business name and physical address, no P.O. box.
• Completed within three business days of the first day of paid work, or by the end of day one for short jobs.
• Errors fixed the right way, by the right person; see how to correct Form I-9 errors.