Can new employees fill out the I-9 form in Spanish?
Your employees can fill out the Spanish version of the Form
I-9 only if they are employed in Puerto Rico. If you are not an employer in Puerto
Rico you can still print out the Spanish I-9 and use it to help
employees complete the form. You can
give them the Spanish version to review and instruct them compete the information
on the English form.
If an employee completes the form with the help of atranslator the person who provides the assistance must complete the bottom box
in Section 1 the “Preparer and/or Translator Certification.” They are signing a
statement that they helped in completion of the form and that to the best of
their knowledge the information is correct.
Make sure the preparer/translator fills in all the boxes; signature,
printed name, address and date.
Watch out for potential red flags like a date by thepreparer that is two weeks later than the date the employee signed the
form. As soon as an employee fills out
Section 1 of the form, the top portion, check to see if they have filled in all
the appropriate boxes. I prefer to do
this even before I look at the documentation that they need for Section 2.
I-9 forms and the process to complete them can be reallyconfusing. What questions do you have?
