Now’s the Time to Get Your Company’s I-9 Compliance in Order

It’s not always easy to see a regulatory problem coming—you think you know where your organization has a vulnerability and then, out of the blue, you get T-boned with something totally unexpected. In 2025, that issue may well be immigration related. You’re probably not thinking about an immigration problem. I can hear you now: “I don’t hire undocumented workers, I don’t have to worry about that.”

But immigration compliance is more involved than ensuring you aren’t hiring unauthorized workers—it’s about following bureaucratic processes that are easy to screw up. A lot of companies don’t do it right, and when immigration agents come knocking on the door, they’re vulnerable. The Trump administration has put immigration enforcement at the top of its priority list, and employees from federal agencies are being moved from their regular duties into immigration work. It’s time to get ready, and shore up any potential problems. I’d focus on three areas.

I-9 Audits

First, do an audit of your I-9s. You remember the I-9. It’s that federally mandated 1-2 page form that all new employees have to fill out on their first day to verify their identity and ability to legally work in the US. Chances are, you haven’t thought about that form since the day your employees started. They brought in a driver’s license or passport or some proof of ability to work, filled in some blanks, done.

Problem is, the form isn’t exactly a model of clarity—it’s got a lot of bureaucratic language and companies often don’t have anyone on board who knows the ins and outs of work authorization, and how to fill out the form properly. Employees who have temporary work permits must reverify prior to the expiration of their permit, a requirement that often gets forgotten.

According to Rob Taylor, a business immigration lawyer and partner at Erickson Immigration Group, self-audits find that a company’s I-9 records are often incomplete and out of compliance, making the company an easy target for fines. Working with your immigration counsel now to do an audit and get your files in order might save headaches down the line.

If a full audit is too daunting and time-consuming, a sample audit may allow you to quickly identify gaps and weaknesses in your I-9 process; it can also be a good refresher training for your team. Good faith efforts to comply with the I-9 regulations go a long way in the event of an audit by the government.

Site Visits

Immigration site visits are an even bigger potential headache. When you sponsor a worker on an H-1B visa, the government can show up unannounced to confirm that the terms of the visa are being followed. H-1Bs are work specific, company specific, and location specific. That’s a challenge for businesses where things are always changing—reorgs or shifting priorities can move workers to different projects or cost centers with new managers. Visa holders might be reassigned to another campus when an office closes or is given permission to work remotely. If your company’s mobility tracking doesn’t catch these problems up front, both the company and the worker could be in jeopardy.

The site visit issue is particularly acute in a “work from home” world—if the visa holder works from home, the government auditor can literally knock on the worker’s door at home and begin the interview on the spot. That can be a difficult experience, particularly if the worker isn’t prepared for it. Worse, if the worker has moved to a different address than the one on the visa paperwork, and the immigration officer shows up to the old address to find no one working there, you’ll have more problems.

Preparation for site visits has two key components. First, you must ensure there is a good process in place to flag changes to the conditions of employment for visa holders prior to those changes taking effect. Second, once you know your visa holder population is compliant, you need to be prepared to demonstrate it during a site visit. Is your receptionist trained on what to do and who to contact if an immigration official shows up at the door for an unexpected visit? What’s the protocol for handling the request, and do you have an attorney designated to sit in on the interview and help? Do your employees on visas know what to do in the event an immigration officer shows up at their home?

According to Taylor, these unannounced inspections ramped up in the first Trump administration, but were less common during the Biden years. They are already ramping up office and home visits in 2025. Be ready.

Employees’ Concerns

Self-audits and good processes go a long way, but this isn’t just a paper transaction—it’s a very human, emotional area of the law. There is currently a high level of anxiety among foreign workers, many of whom have established strong ties in the US. They’re reading the news, and they’re worried about their ability to lawfully remain in the US. They want to know whether birthright citizenship will be taken away, and if so, what that means for their family. If they travel outside the US for work, or to visit family, can they return?

If you have employees on work visas, be sensitive to their apprehensions and overcommunicate. Send out regular updates with the latest information about visas and citizenship. Hold an open Q&A for visa workers, and bring in your immigration counsel for 1:1 meetings so they can get their specific questions answered. Even though you might not have all the answers, your concern for their welfare will be noted and appreciated for a long time.

Rob Chesnut consults on legal and ethical issues and was formerly general counsel and chief ethics officer at Airbnb. He spent more than a decade as a Justice Department prosecutor and he writes on in-house, corporate, and ethics issues.

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