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Form I-9 and E-Verify

About Electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify

Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) is the Federal form used by Northwestern to verify the identity and the employment eligibility of its employees, regardless of citizenship.  Based on the information provided on Form I-9, E-Verify checks this information electronically against records contained in DHS and Social Security Administration (SSA) databases. 

Are you a new employee who needs to complete your I-9?

Click here to visit the Completing Your I-9 page

Requirements for new employees

  • All employees must complete section 1 of Form I-9 online by the first date of employment.  To complete Section 2, employees must present acceptable documentation to a University representative with access to our I-9 Service Center to complete section 2 by the fourth day of employment. 
  • Employees: refer to the Completing Your I-9 page for more information about Section 1 and Section 2.  
  • Administrators:  refer to the Admin Guides page for more information on the policies and procedures for Form I-9.  

Requirements for re-hired employees

  • US citizens and permanent residents who are rehired will need to complete a new I-9 if the hire date listed on their previous I-9 is older than 3 years ago.
  • Permanent residents will need to complete a new I-9 if their previous I-9 was completed before they were permanent residents. Nonresidents will always need to complete a new I-9. Seasonal employees who have a reasonable expectation to return on a cyclical basis to the same position do not need to complete a new I-9 upon return. A training guide for processing section 3 for rehires is available with more information.

Form I-9 Processing

Administrators with proper access can use the I-9 Service Center  to review employee Form I-9s (Employment Eligibility) and complete Section 2 electronically during meeting with new employee.  To receive access to the I-9 Service Center and authority to complete Section 2, submit the HR Systems General Access Form, and complete the HRP003 Form I-9 Training in myHR Learn.

See our Admin Guides for administrator resources.

Northwestern's Participation in the E-Verify Program

Northwestern enrolled in the E-Verify program to comply with the federal contractor regulation. Northwestern University is a research institution and non-compliance with this program could result in suspending or debarring of federal contracts. Northwestern began using E-Verify and electronic I-9s on January 26, 2010. As of that date, paper I-9s are no longer accepted by the university for any new hires. See FAQs related to E-Verify.

Northwestern’s E-Verify Employer information 

NU FEIN: 362167817
E-Verify Number: 297964

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