Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. - Documents for Foreign Nationals

I9 Tutorial

Documents for Foreign Nationals

As with all employees, F-1 visa holders (students), J-1 visa holders (exchange visitor students and scholars), H-1B visa holders (temporary specialty employees), and permanent resident aliens ("green card" holders) must present documentation that verifies both their identity and their eligibility to work in the United States. Foreign nationals can present identity and work eligibility documents from List A or present identity documents from List B in combination with work eligibility documents from List C. We cannot request, suggest or insist that they present certain documents.

We encourage you to download the Handbook for Employers: Instructions for Completing the I-9 Form to view sample documents. See part 8 - Acceptable Documents for Verifying Employment Eligibility.

Completing the I-9 Form for foreign nationals can be challenging. For example, often the identity or work eligibility documents must be presented in combination with other documents. To further complicate matters, the identity and work eligibility documents are often unfamiliar to most U.S. citizens. The initial challenge, however, quickly goes away once you know what to look for.

You should only complete List A OR List B AND List C. It is wrong to complete all three lists. It is also wrong to complete List A & List B or List A & List C.

F-1 Visa Holders

F-1 Visa Holders are students who are permitted to enter the U.S. to pursue a course of study. After they complete the course of study, they are required to leave the U.S., unless they change their immigration status. In general, F-1 students who are in legal immigration status are eligible to work 20 hours per week during the academic semester. Students may work more than 20 hours per week during regular vacation periods and over the summer months at Concordia worksites only.

As a practical matter, F-1 students will only be able to present List A documents and not a combination of List B and List C documents. (TIP: The Social Security Card will have a statement "valid for work only with DHS authorization", thus the need for the documents as identified below.) Under List A, an F-1 student will most likely present one of the following documents to verify their identity and work eligibility.

List A#4 - Unexpired foreign passport with an INS Form I-94, indicating unexpired employment authorization.

Foreign Passport is a legal document that looks like a small booklet that is issued by the student's country of citizenship that allows him or her to travel to other countries. Each passport has a number that is usually etched into the cover page or typed on the personal profile page. In addition, each passport has an expiration date. The expiration date is usually located on the personal profile page. If the date has passed then you should look through the pages of the passport to locate an extension date. When you find the date, write it on the I-9 Form in the "month-day-year" format. Please note that in other countries, dates are usually written in the "day-month-year" format.
I-94 is the arrival/departure card that non-immigrants must fill out when they enter the country. The card is processed by immigration officials at the point of arrival. The foreign alien must present the same card when he or she departs the U.S. In addition the person's name, date of birth and country of citizenship, the form indicates (1) the person's immigration classification (i.e., F-1, J-1, H1-B, etc); (2) arrival date and location; and (3) how long the nonimmigrant is allowed to stay in the U.S. For F-1 students, the I-94 Form will indicate "admitted F-1 (class) until D/S". "D/S" means duration of status. For F-1 students you must also look at the I-20 Form to determine the length of stay.
I-20 is the Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant (F-1) Student Status issued by the BCIS (formerly the INS). The beginning and the end dates of the student's authorization to be in the U.S. is located in Section 5 on the front of the form.

To fill out the I-9 Form when these forms are presented, list the following information in SECTION 2 under the LIST A heading:

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List A #10 - Unexpired Employment Authorization Documents

With Photograph INS I-688B Form

The period of time the student is eligible for employment is printed on the front of the card.

With Photograph INS I-766 Form - this item is NOT LISTED on the back of the I-9 Form, but is deemed acceptable by the BCIS

The period of time the student is eligible for employment is printed on the front of the card.

J-1 Visa Holders

J-1 Visa holders are exchange visitors who are permitted to enter the U.S. to participate in an approved exchange visitor program. Exchange visitors at Concordia College can be students, professors, research scholars or short-term scholars.

As a practical matter, J-1 students or scholars will only be able to present List A documents and not a combination of List B and List C documents. Under List A, J-1 student or scholar will most likely present on the following documents to verify their identity and work eligibility:

LIST A #4 - Unexpired foreign passport with an INS I-94 Form "indicating an unexpired employment authorization."

Foreign Passport is a legal document that looks like a small booklet that is issued by the student's country of citizenship that allows them to travel to other countries. Each passport has a number that is usually etched into the cover page or typed on the personal profile page. In addition, each passport has an expiration date. The expiration date is usually located on the personal profile page. If that date has passed then you should look through the pages of the passport to locate an extension date. When you find the date, write it on the I-9 Form in the "month-day-year" format. Please note that in other countries, dates are usually written in the "day-month-year" format.
I-94 Form is the arrival/departure card that non-immigrants must fill out when they enter the country. The card is processed by immigration officials at the point of arrival. The foreign aliens must present the same card when they depart the U.S. In addition to the person's name, date of birth and country of citizenship, the form indicates (1) the person's immigration classification (i.e., F-1, J-1, H1-B, etc); (2) arrival date and location; and (3) how long the nonimmigrant is allowed to stay in the U.S. For J-1 non-immigrants, the I-94 form will indicate "admitted J-1 (class) until [date] or D/S". "D/S" means duration of status. For J-1 non-immigrants you must also look at the DS-2019 Form to determine the extent of the persons work eligibility and authorized length of stay in the U.S.
DS-2019 Form is the Certificate of Eligibility for Exchange Visitor (J-1) Status issued by the United States Information Agency. On the form is a place for either a Concordia College Responsible Officer (RO) or Alternate Responsible Officer (ARO) to authorize the person for employment. This information should indicate that the person is authorized to work for Concordia and the dates of permitted employment.

To fill out the I-9 Form when these forms are presented list the following information in SECTION 2 under the LIST A Heading:

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