Key Points for Completing Form I-9

The university I-9 procedure can be found here. The following are key points and tips for completing student employee Form I-9s.

If a student has previously completed a Form I-9 at Boston University as a student employee, they do not need to complete a new one. You may check to see if a student has completed a Form I-9 by viewing Student Employee Information on the Student Employment section of the Business Link. If a student has completed a Form I-9, the hire form will automatically populate with their I-9 completion date and Mail Code SEMI9 when you hire the student using the New Hire/Rehire function. Otherwise, you will receive an error message stating that the student is not I-9 Compliant.

Student employees must complete Section 1 of the Form I-9 prior to or on their first day of employment to ensure timely completion of Section 2 of the Form I-9. This can be done by the student in less than five minutes.

Students are not required to fill out the Social Security Number, E-mail Address, or Telephone Number fields in Section 1 of the Form I-9. Note that if the student has not provided their Social Security number during completion of the Form I-9 at any point, they will need to update Student Payroll after hire for tax purposes following our information about students without Social Security numbers.

The student must be present when identification is reviewed during Section 2 of the Form I-9.

The supervisor or authorized representative completing Section 2 should confirm that the student’s UID at the top of the form is correct in the form of UXXXXXXXX. If this UID is incorrect and the form is submitted, the Form I-9 will not be accurately stored for the student.

Employers must complete Section 2 no later than three business days after the student’s employment date. The hiring department will not be able to enter hiring information for a student employee until the Form I-9 has been properly completed.

Failure to complete a Form I-9 within this timeframe will result in delayed payment for the student employee. This is a violation of the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) and can result in prosecution.