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I-9 / OnBoard Arizona

All new employees must complete a variety of new hire documents and complete an I-9 and E-verify process during their first days of employment. The State of Arizona provides an automated solution called OnBoard Arizona to support these processes.  OnBoard Arizona is a special website for new hires where they may:

  • View a welcome message from their agency’s director and watch a brief introduction to their new agency
  • Complete required new hire documents
  • Complete section 1 of their I-9

Although new hires may complete these activities before their first day of work, they MUST be completed no later than the close of business on the new hire’s first day of work.  Within three business days past the hire date, agency staff MUST complete section 2 of the I-9 and initiate the E-verify process. For example, if an employee begins employment on Monday, section 2 must be completed on or before Thursday of that week.

The I-9/E-verify process is governed by a set of Federal and State laws that include the following key provisions:

  • It is illegal for employers to knowingly hire persons who are not authorized to work in the United States.
  • The employer is responsible for verifying eligibility to work in the US and fines may be imposed for not complying with the law.
  • It is illegal to continue to employ an undocumented worker or one who loses authorization to work in the US.
  • The law prohibits discrimination in hiring and firing on the basis of citizenship status or national origin.
  • USCIS Form I-9 must be completed for all new employees hired after November 6, 1986. On December 17, 2007, an electronic version of the I-9 replaced the paper form.
  • Employers must allow new hires to show documents of their choice to prove identity and work eligibility.
  • The employer cannot ask for specific documents or more documents than required.
  • The employer does not need to authenticate the documents: if they appear reasonably genuine and related to the person, the employer must accept them.  To do otherwise could be discriminatory.
  • Employees must present original, unexpired documents. The only exception to this rule is that certified copies of birth certificates are acceptable.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services Handbook for Employers provides valuable information on the most common questions about employment eligibility. The most recent version of the Handbook can be found at  https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/handbook-employers-m-274.  All I-9 verifiers should read this Handbook and understand its provisions.

If you need any assistance with the OnBoard Arizona application, please contact your agency I-9 Lead. If your Agency Lead is not available, you may contact the ADOA I-9 help desk at [email protected]. If you need to reset your password, you may contact the OnBoard Arizona Employee Service Center (provided by Equifax) at 888-850-8159.