An I-9 self-audit is one of the smartest things an employer can do right now — but only if you do it correctly. With U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducting audits at ten times the rate of 2024 and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) funding 10,000 new enforcement officers, finding and fixing your own Form I-9 errors before ICE does is a legitimate defense strategy. A documented self-audit is one of the strongest good-faith factors an employer can present during a government inspection.
But a self-audit done incorrectly can create new problems. Employers who use correction fluid, let the wrong person fix errors, demand specific documents, or destroy original forms during the process can turn a proactive compliance effort into additional liability. These mistakes don't just fail to fix the record — they can make the record look worse to an ICE auditor than it did before. Here are the five most common mistakes employers make during I-9 self-audits, and how to avoid every one of them.
The enforcement landscape has shifted dramatically since early 2025. Three developments have made internal I-9 audits more urgent — and more consequential — than at any point in recent history:
ICE and the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) of the Department of Justice have published joint guidance for employers conducting internal audits. A self-audit that follows these guidelines demonstrates good faith. One that doesn't can create evidence of additional violations. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the full audit process, see our I-9 Audit Checklist.
This is the mistake that carries the most serious legal consequences — and it often happens during self-audits because the employer is trying to be thorough.
During a self-audit, an employer discovers that an employee's Section 2 documentation has issues — maybe the document is expired, the information is incomplete, or the wrong list combination was used. The employer asks the employee to bring in their passport, or their green card, or a specific document to fix the problem.
That request is illegal. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 274B, employers cannot:
This is called document abuse, and it applies during self-audits just as much as it applies during initial onboarding. An employee has the right to choose which acceptable documents to present. If you need an employee to present new documentation during a self-audit, you must let them choose from any documents on the Lists of Acceptable Documents.
Document abuse violations are enforced by the IER, and the penalties are separate from the I-9 paperwork fines ICE assesses. An employer who discriminates based on citizenship status or national origin — including by demanding specific documents — faces civil penalties on top of any I-9 fines.
Note: If you are an E-Verify employer, you may require employees to present a document with a photo if they choose to present a List B document. This is the only situation where you can specify a document characteristic — and it only applies to List B, not to List A or List C documents.
Form I-9 has a strict rule about who can correct what — and this rule trips up a lot of employers during self-audits.
Only the employee can correct errors in Section 1. Section 1 is the employee's section. If a self-audit reveals that an employee left their address blank, entered the wrong date of birth, or failed to check a citizenship status box, the employer cannot fill in or fix that information. The employee must make the correction themselves — drawing a line through the incorrect entry, writing the correct information, and initialing and dating the change.
Only the employer or an authorized representative can correct errors in Section 2 or Supplement B. The M-274 Handbook says "only the employer (or their authorized representative) may make corrections" in these sections. While it does not have to be the same person who originally completed Section 2, having the original representative make the correction is a best practice — it avoids questions about why a different person is signing off on changes.
In practice, this means a self-audit requires coordination. You can't simply sit down with a stack of I-9 forms and fix everything yourself. When you find Section 1 errors, you need to contact the employee, explain the issue, and have them make the correction. When you find Section 2 errors, the person who originally completed the section should make the correction when possible. If that person is no longer available, another authorized representative can make the correction — attach a note explaining why a different person is making the change.
Even when the right person makes the correction, improper documentation of the change is one of the most common self-audit failures. USCIS guidance is specific about how corrections must be made:
The correct method:
What you must never do:
If correction fluid was already used (perhaps by a previous HR manager or during an earlier correction attempt), do not try to undo it. Instead, attach a signed and dated note to the form explaining what information was covered by the correction fluid and what the correct information should be.
Attach a written explanation to every corrected form. While not required for minor single-field corrections, attaching a brief note that says "Corrected during internal I-9 audit on [date]" creates a clear paper trail and demonstrates good faith to any future auditor.
Note: If a form has so many errors that individual corrections would make the document illegible or confusing, USCIS guidance permits redoing the entire section on a new Form I-9. Attach the new form to the original with a written explanation. Never destroy the original form.
Most employers don't know their I-9 error rate until it's too late. Our I-9 audit services team reviews your records, identifies every issue, and walks you through the correction process. Or schedule a free compliance call to discuss your situation with a specialist.
During a self-audit, employers sometimes notice that long-tenured employees have never had their documents reverified. A well-intentioned HR manager may decide to reverify everyone "just to be safe." This is a mistake — and for certain employees, it's a potential anti-discrimination violation.
U.S. citizens and noncitizen nationals never need reverification. Their right to work does not expire. If an employee checked "A citizen of the United States" or "A noncitizen national of the United States" in Section 1, you should never reverify them — regardless of how long ago the original Form I-9 was completed.
Lawful permanent residents generally do not need reverification either. A Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551) has an expiration date, but the card's expiration does not affect the person's employment authorization. Permanent resident status does not expire when the card expires. Similarly, an unrestricted Social Security card presented by a lawful permanent resident as a List C document does not expire. If a lawful permanent resident presented one of these documents at hire, there is no reverification obligation.
Reverifying employees who are not legally required to be reverified can constitute citizenship status discrimination or national origin discrimination under INA Section 274B. This is especially true when the reverification is applied selectively — for example, asking only employees who "look" or "sound" foreign to provide updated documents.
Reverification is only required when an employee's employment authorization document has a specific expiration date — for example, an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) or a work permit tied to a specific visa status. In those cases, the employer must reverify on or before the document's expiration date using Supplement B.
When a Form I-9 has enough errors that you need to redo an entire section on a new form, it can be tempting to discard the original. After all, the new form has the correct information — why keep the messy, error-filled original?
You must retain the original Form I-9. Always. USCIS guidance is clear: when you create a new form or redo a section during a self-audit, attach the new form to the original. The original form is part of the employee's official record, and destroying it during a self-audit can be treated as a failure to retain the form — which is itself a finable offense.
Here's why this matters in practice:
The correct procedure: staple or clip the new form to the front of the original. Write a brief explanation: "Section [X] redone on new Form I-9 during internal audit on [date] due to [reason]. Original form attached." Sign and date the note.
Here is the step-by-step process for making corrections during a self-audit, based on USCIS guidance and the M-274 Handbook for Employers:
Go through every Form I-9 on file and document what you find. Use a spreadsheet with columns for employee name, error type, section, and severity. Do not make any corrections during this first pass. You need a complete picture before you start changing anything.
Separate errors into three categories:
Section 1 errors: Contact the employee. Explain the issue and ask them to correct it. The employee draws a line through the incorrect entry, writes the correct information, and initials and dates the change. The employer cannot make Section 1 corrections.
Section 2 and Supplement B errors: The employer or the original authorized representative makes the correction using the strikethrough method. If the original representative is unavailable, another authorized person can make the correction — attach a note explaining why a different person is making the change.
If a form has so many errors that individual corrections would make it unreadable, redo the affected section on a new Form I-9. Attach the new form to the original. Write and sign an explanation. Never destroy the original.
Maintain a complete audit log showing every form reviewed, every error found, every correction made, and the date of each correction. This log is your evidence of good faith if ICE audits you later. Store it with your I-9 records.
"The most common mistake I see during self-audits is employers trying to make forms look perfect — using white-out, replacing originals, back-dating signatures. Every one of those actions makes the situation worse. A messy form with honest, documented corrections is always better than a clean form that raises questions about what was changed and why," says Patricia, Director of Compliance at i9 Intelligence.
Most compliance professionals recommend conducting an internal I-9 audit at least once a year. Employers in industries frequently targeted by ICE — including agriculture, hospitality, construction, staffing, and food processing — should consider auditing every six months. A regular audit schedule demonstrates ongoing good-faith compliance and helps catch errors before they compound. For a full walkthrough, see our I-9 Audit Checklist.
No. USCIS guidance explicitly prohibits concealing changes on Form I-9. Correction fluid (white-out), erasing, and any other method that hides the original entry increases liability. If correction fluid was already used on a form — perhaps by a previous employee or manager — attach a signed and dated note explaining what was covered and what the correct information is. Do not attempt to remove or undo the correction fluid.
Yes, if the errors are substantial enough that individual corrections would make the form illegible or confusing. USCIS guidance permits redoing an entire section on a new Form I-9 when there are multiple errors across that section, or when the section was completed based on unacceptable documents. Attach the new form to the original, include a written explanation of why a new form was created, and never destroy the original. For single-field errors, use the strikethrough correction method instead.
If the employee has left the company, you cannot correct Section 1 errors. Only the employee can make corrections to their own section, and you cannot contact a former employee to request changes. Document the error in your audit log, note that the employee is no longer employed and the correction cannot be made, and move on. If the form is still within the retention period, keep it on file with your audit documentation. ICE auditors understand that some errors are uncorrectable — a documented finding shows you identified the issue, which is itself a sign of good faith.
With 27 years of I-9 and E-Verify specialization, i9 Intelligence helps employers find and fix I-9 errors before they become fines. Our compliance team has reviewed thousands of Form I-9 records and knows exactly what ICE auditors look for. From managed I-9 audits to ongoing compliance through our electronic I-9 platform, we handle the details so you don't have to.
This article reflects USCIS guidance and ICE enforcement practices current as of March 2026. Penalty amounts are from the Federal Register, January 2, 2025. Penalty figures are adjusted annually for inflation. For the latest amounts, see I-9 Penalties in 2026. For ongoing enforcement actions, see our ICE Worksite Enforcement Tracker. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified legal counsel for guidance specific to your organization.
