Work authorization is the legal right to work for compensation in the United States. For the person doing the hiring, it's the thing you must verify on Form I-9 within three business days of the new hire's start date — and the thing that, if you get it wrong, exposes your company to fines of up to $28,619 per unauthorized worker and $2,861 per defective form.
This guide is written for the employer side of the desk: the HR manager, office manager, or general manager who is staring at a new hire's paperwork and needs to know what counts, what doesn't, and what happens if the answer is wrong. We cover what work authorization actually is, who has it, what documents prove it, how to verify it under federal law, and how the rules changed in 2026.
Yes — federal agencies use the two terms interchangeably. The full title of Form I-9 is Employment Eligibility Verification, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) refers to the underlying document — Form I-766 — as the Employment Authorization Document, or EAD. But the same agency's I-9 Central guidance, E-Verify materials, and Department of Homeland Security communications use "work authorization" routinely. Both terms refer to the same legal authority: the right to be paid for labor in the U.S.
Throughout this guide we use "work authorization" because that's what most HR teams call it day-to-day, and "employment authorization" when quoting USCIS or referring to specific forms.
Form I-9 Section 1 requires every new hire to attest to one of four categories. Each category has a different set of acceptable documents that prove identity and work authorization, and each comes with different reverification rules.
Anyone born in the United States or naturalized as a U.S. citizen has unlimited work authorization. They never need an EAD, never need reverification, and never lose work authorization when a document expires. A U.S. passport, U.S. passport card, or Certificate of Naturalization establishes both identity and work authorization. A driver's license plus a Social Security card does the same job through Lists B and C.
This is the smallest category — primarily individuals born in American Samoa or Swains Island. Noncitizen nationals have permanent allegiance to the U.S. and full work authorization, but are not technically citizens. They use the same documents as U.S. citizens for I-9 purposes.
Lawful permanent residents (LPRs) have permanent work authorization. They are typically issued Form I-551, the Permanent Resident Card — what most people call a Green Card. Per USCIS guidance, an expired Green Card is acceptable on initial Form I-9, and reverification is never required when a Green Card expires. The card proves both identity and work authorization in a single document. For the full set of conditional and temporary I-551 variants, see our walkthrough of the Green Card number for Form I-9 and I-551 Permanent Resident Card.
This is the largest and most operationally complex category. It includes everyone with temporary or conditional work authorization — H-1B visa holders, asylum applicants, refugees, parolees, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries, OPT students, certain dependents (H-4 EAD, L-2 EAD), and people in deferred action programs. Most carry Form I-766 (the EAD card) or Form I-94 with a work endorsement.
Unlike the first three categories, aliens authorized to work usually have a hard expiration date on their authorization. Employers must track these dates and reverify before they expire — failing to reverify, or letting an employee continue working past expiration, is the most common audit-driven violation we see in this category.
Form I-9 Section 2 requires the employer (or an authorized representative) to physically examine documents that establish identity, work authorization, or both. USCIS publishes three lists of acceptable documents — A, B, and C. The employee chooses which combination to present. The employer cannot specify which documents the employee must produce. Doing so violates the anti-discrimination provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA § 274B).
A single List A document establishes both identity and work authorization. If the employee presents one of these, the employer cannot ask for anything else.
List B documents establish identity but say nothing about work authorization. They must be paired with a List C document. The most common List B documents:
List C documents prove the right to work but not identity. They must be paired with a List B document.
For the full annotated document inventory with images and edge cases, see our pillar reference on I-9 acceptable documents.
The EAD is the most common standalone document in the "alien authorized to work" category. It's a credit-card-sized document with a photograph, a hard expiration date, and a category code printed on the back that tells the employer (and E-Verify) the basis for the work authorization.
EADs are issued to a wide range of noncitizens, including:
USCIS redesigns the EAD card every three to five years to deter fraud. Both current and previous designs remain valid until their expiration dates. For a full visual walkthrough of the EAD card and where to find the document number for Section 2, see our EAD card guide for Form I-9.
The October 30, 2025 EAD auto-extension change. For years, employees who timely filed an EAD renewal application received an automatic 540-day extension of their EAD validity. As of October 30, 2025, that auto-extension no longer applies to renewal applications filed on that date or later. Employees who filed before October 30, 2025 may still be covered by the auto-extension if they meet the eligibility criteria; everyone else loses work authorization the day their current EAD expires unless USCIS issues the renewal in time. Employers tracking EAD expirations need to recheck their reverification dates against this rule for any hire with a renewal pending.
The Social Security card is the most commonly presented List C document — and the most commonly mishandled. There are three restrictive notations that disqualify a Social Security card as proof of work authorization on Form I-9:
If you see any of these notations, the Social Security card is not acceptable as a List C document. The employee must present a different work-authorization document (typically an EAD) along with their List B identity document. For a deep dive on the third notation specifically — including how to verify the underlying DHS authorization — see our guide to the "valid for work only with DHS authorization" Social Security card.
One more rule: a laminated Social Security card is not acceptable, even if the underlying card is unrestricted. The Social Security Administration explicitly warns against laminating the card, and lamination prevents employers from verifying the card's security features.
The federal verification standard has three pieces: a deadline, an examination standard, and an anti-discrimination rule. Each is straightforward, but missing any of them creates exposure.
Per the M-274 Handbook for Employers, "within three business days of the date employment begins, you or your authorized representative must complete Section 2 by examining original, acceptable, and unexpired documentation." If the new hire starts on a Monday, Section 2 must be complete by the end of Thursday. If the hire is for less than three business days, Section 2 must be completed before the end of the first day of work.
Note that "business days" includes every operational day for the company — for a restaurant, hotel, hospital, or retail employer that operates seven days a week, Saturday and Sunday count toward the deadline. For a deeper walkthrough of the timing rules and the most common scheduling mistakes, see our I-9 three-day rule guide.
USCIS does not require employers to be document fraud experts. The standard is that the document must "reasonably appear to be genuine and relate to the person presenting it." Most fraudulent documents are obvious — wrong photo, mismatched name, visible alterations, missing security features. If a document doesn't reasonably appear genuine, the employer should ask the employee to present different documentation from the Lists of Acceptable Documents.
If the document does reasonably appear genuine but later turns out to be fraudulent, the employer is generally not liable for accepting it in good faith — the burden is on the employee who presented it.
This is the single most-violated rule on Form I-9. The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA § 274B) prohibits employers from:
If an employee says, "I don't have a passport, but I have my driver's license and Social Security card," the employer must accept that combination. Asking, "Can I see your Green Card?" or "Don't you have an EAD?" is unfair documentary practice and can result in penalties from the Department of Justice's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) — separate from any I-9 paperwork penalties.
Untrained reviewers are the single largest source of Section 2 violations. i9 Intelligence provides U.S.-based authorized representatives who conduct Section 2 verifications on your behalf — fully compliant, fully managed, in-app video with no third-party tools. See how managed remote verification works, or book a free compliance consultation with our team.
Reverification is the process of confirming continued work authorization when an employee's documentation expires. The rules are not symmetrical — some categories require reverification, others never do.
Reverification is never required for:
Reverification IS required for:
Reverification is documented on Supplement B of the current Form I-9 (formerly Section 3 on the prior version). The employee presents new unexpired documentation from List A or List C; the employer records it on Supplement B and signs.
The most common reverification mistake: reverifying a Green Card. USCIS guidance is explicit that this is not required, and reverifying a Green Card can be considered unfair documentary practice. When in doubt, the right answer is usually "do not reverify."
USCIS allows certain receipts to substitute temporarily for an actual List A, B, or C document. Receipts cannot be used if the employment will last less than three business days, and cannot be accepted at all once the receipt validity period has expired.
The 90-day receipt rule. If an employee has lost, stolen, or damaged their work-authorization document, they may present a receipt showing they have applied for a replacement. The receipt is valid for 90 days from the date of hire (or from the reverification date). Within 90 days, the employee must present the actual replacement document. If the replacement doesn't arrive in time, the employee may present a different but acceptable document from the Lists, and the employer completes a new Section 2 attached to the original I-9.
EAD auto-extensions. Through October 29, 2025, certain employees with timely-filed EAD renewal applications received an automatic 540-day extension of their work authorization. Those auto-extensions are no longer available for renewal applications filed on or after October 30, 2025 — meaning employees in those categories must receive their actual renewed EAD before their current one expires, or they lose work authorization on the expiration date.
Special parolee receipts. Form I-94 receipts for refugees, Afghan parolees ("OAR" or "PAR" class of admission), and Ukrainian humanitarian parolees ("UHP" or "DT" class with Ukraine citizenship) are valid for 90 days from hire or until the I-94 expires, whichever is earlier.
Civil penalties for I-9 violations are adjusted annually for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. The amounts below reflect the most recent adjustment and apply to violations occurring in 2026.
Paperwork violations (missing forms, missing signatures, missing dates, substantive errors): $288 to $2,861 per Form I-9. ICE applies these to every defective form during an audit — a 200-employee company with a 10% error rate faces $5,760 to $57,220 in paperwork fines alone.
Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers — first offense: $716 to $5,724 per worker. Second offense: $5,724 to $14,308. Third or more: $8,586 to $28,619 per worker.
Document fraud (INA § 274C — separate from paperwork violations): $590 to $4,730 per fraudulent document for first offense, $4,730 to $11,823 for subsequent offenses.
Unfair documentary practice (anti-discrimination violations under INA § 274B) is investigated separately by the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. IER can assess civil penalties on top of any ICE paperwork or knowing-hire fine, and it routinely pursues employers who request specific documents from work-authorized employees. Current penalty ranges are published at justice.gov/crt/immigrant-and-employee-rights-section.
ICE doesn't pick a number arbitrarily. The five-factor framework at 8 CFR § 274a.10(b)(2) requires inspectors to weigh employer size, good faith, seriousness of the violation, presence of unauthorized workers, and prior history when setting fines within the statutory range. Documented compliance procedures — including electronic I-9 systems, internal audits, and training records — push fines toward the lower end.
The March 2026 ICE update. On March 16, 2026, ICE updated its I-9 Inspection Fact Sheet to reclassify several common Form I-9 errors from "technical" violations (which carry a 10-day correction window) to "substantive" violations (immediate fine exposure with no opportunity to cure). The reclassified errors include missing dates, missing date of birth, and use of the Spanish-language Form I-9 outside Puerto Rico. For the full list and audit guidance, see ICE redefines substantive I-9 violations and our complete 2026 I-9 penalties guide.
Most violations come from the same handful of process failures. The fix in each case is structural, not motivational.
"The single most common mistake we see is employers asking for specific documents — 'Can I see your Green Card?' or 'I'd rather you bring a passport.' That's unfair documentary practice, and it's the same penalty schedule whether it was discrimination or just a misunderstanding," says Patricia Duarte, Director of Compliance at i9 Intelligence. "The rule is simple: the employee chooses what to present from the Lists. If it reasonably appears genuine, you accept it."
No. A visa is a travel document that allows a noncitizen to apply for admission to the U.S. at a port of entry. Work authorization is the legal right to be paid for labor in the U.S. Some visa categories (like H-1B) include work authorization automatically; others (like F-1 student visas) generally do not, except in specific situations (Curricular Practical Training, Optional Practical Training). The visa stamp in a passport is not a substitute for the EAD or other work-authorization document required for Form I-9.
No. An ITIN is issued by the IRS for tax filing purposes and does not authorize work in the U.S. ITINs cannot be used in place of a Social Security number for Form I-9, and they are not acceptable as a List C document.
No. Federal law (the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986) makes it unlawful for any employer to knowingly hire, recruit, or refer for a fee any individual who is not authorized to work in the United States. The employer's verification obligation under Form I-9 is the mechanism for enforcing this rule.
An EAD (Form I-766) provides temporary work authorization, usually tied to a specific visa category, asylum application, or other status with a hard expiration date. A Green Card (Form I-551) is permanent — the holder is a lawful permanent resident with unlimited work authorization that does not expire (the card itself expires for renewal purposes, but the underlying status does not). Green Card holders can present the card alone as a List A document; EAD holders can present the EAD alone as a List A document.
No. This is unfair documentary practice. A U.S. citizen can satisfy Form I-9 with any acceptable combination of documents from the Lists — most commonly a driver's license (List B) plus an unrestricted Social Security card (List C). Requiring or requesting a passport specifically can result in a penalty under INA § 274B.
Yes. The document must reasonably appear to be genuine and to relate to the person presenting it. If the name on the document doesn't match the name in Section 1, or the photo doesn't match the person, the document is not acceptable. Common name-mismatch scenarios (marriage, divorce, court-ordered changes) are addressed in our I-9 name change guide.
The A-Number is the 7- to 9-digit identifier USCIS assigns to noncitizens who interact with the immigration system. It appears on Green Cards, EADs, and several other immigration documents. Section 1 of Form I-9 requires it for employees who attest to "alien authorized to work" or "lawful permanent resident." See our guide to the A-Number on Form I-9 for where to find it on each document type.
Our compliance team handles work authorization questions every day for employers ranging from 10-person veterinary clinics to 5,000-employee enterprises. If you're not sure whether a document counts, whether to reverify, or whether you have an audit-defensible process — we can help.
