Am I just out of luck? No List A or B documents for I-9

September 12, 2021 5:20 PM

I became a citizen, gave up my green card, and now I have no documents for the I-9 at a new job

I was a permanent resident of the United States for the last roughly 20 years before becoming a citizen in January of 2021. I am a non-driver and was using my green card as ID. They took my green card upon my becoming a citizen. I still have my Canadian passport.

I have been working freelance jobs all this year but just started a new W-2 job where I have to fill out an I-9 documenting my identity and eligibility to work in the US. It wasn't until I saw the list of acceptable documents that I realized I wouldn't meet the requirements. I have my naturalization certificate which works for list C but no document (in lists A/B) to establish my identity. I thought my Canadian passport would work (since a Canadian driver's license is acceptable) but it was not.

- Of course I should have gotten a US passport immediately but I would have had to send away my Canadian passport and I didn't feel comfortable going without ID for months, since the passport offices are so backed up

- Of course I should have had a non-driver ID but I didn't realize that I would be able to get it without another form of ID and DMVs in my location are way backed up, I wouldn't even be able to make an appointment for another month

- "Voter Card" is listed on List B, but what do they mean by that? I registered to vote and got a piece of paper with my name, serial number, congressional district and party registration, but it doesn't have my address or photo - is this what they mean or do I need something laminated with a photo?

- I don't have anything else on list A or B that would qualify, even expired.

- I live in New York, NY but drivers license offices and NYCID offices don't have appointments for more than a month (if at all)

- Is there anything that can be done at this stage or do I just have to let this job go? FWIW I think it would cause the company hiring me significant annoyance to replace me at this stage if there's anything they can do on their end

Please don't chastise me about what I should have done, I'm beating myself up enough.

posted by anonymous to Law & Government (17 answers total)

Email your new company HR with a list of things that you do have available.

- consider applying for an expedited American passport and reaching out to a local congressperson in making it go faster
posted by raccoon409 at 5:24 PM on September 12, 2021 [10 favorites]

First, see if the White Plains DMV has appointments. It is a walk from the Metro North train station. Second, talk to HR. They can appreciate your situation and maybe help you through the bureaucratic maze. Third, if you have a photo or a scan of your old green card, that may satisfy the requirement.
posted by AugustWest at 5:27 PM on September 12, 2021 [4 favorites]

Can you get out of the city to a different DMV? Looks like there are appointments for Friday in Massapequa. (Obviously a pain in the ass, but maybe spending most of a day on the train and bus is better than missing out on the job?)

And yes, contact the company and see what they suggest.
posted by mskyle at 5:33 PM on September 12, 2021

"I registered to vote and got a piece of paper with my name, serial number, congressional district and party registration, but it doesn't have my address or photo "

This is 100% what a voter registration card is! It barely seems like ID but it counts towards your RealID!

Absolutely ask your HR to help you with this, and escalate to managers -- I once had an HR person that demanded my SS card (when I only wanted to provide my passport) and refused to employ me without my SS card, and the HR manager was like "Uh, this employee has to go to retraining."

And yes, absolutely, your congressperson's constituent services office can probably help with this!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:34 PM on September 12, 2021 [15 favorites]

Another dumb suggestion that's a lot of work: register for a class at a community college or something, get your student ID, then drop out.
posted by mskyle at 6:04 PM on September 12, 2021

Your employer is almost certainly using E Verify to verify your I-9. You can log into E Verify yourself to self-verify your employment. Throw everything you've got at it and see what sticks, and then provide that to your employer.

Then if nothing works, contact E Verify, explain your situation, and ask them what you should do. Like calling the IRS, this is daunting and you will wait on hold for a long time, but eventually you will (most likely) talk to someone who genuinely tries to help. I have had to call them a few times (from the employer side).
posted by phunniemee at 6:29 PM on September 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

"Voter card" may very well be the card you have. I've never seen a US voter registration card that doesn't look pretty informal. Ask HR if what you have will cut it!
posted by rdn at 6:49 PM on September 12, 2021

I registered to vote and got a piece of paper with my name, serial number, congressional district and party registration, but it doesn't have my address or photo - is this what they mean

This is indeed what they mean with a voter card. Sounds like that plus your naturalization certificate should get you what your need for the job. Call HR and ask to make sure.

Once this has settled, do go ahead and apply for a U.S. passport. The most important document you have is your naturalization certificate, but you don't need to send away the original for a passport. Bring a regular photocopy to send to the Department of State, but also bring the original to the post office where you submit your paperwork for a passport.
posted by gemmy at 6:49 PM on September 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

Items in list A are things that prove both citizenship and identity. I think of them as gold standard documents that anyone would accept as proof of either. You don't have a US one of those yet.
Without something from list A you need something from list B and C, one to prove citizenship and one to prove your identity. I think your voter registration card and Social Security card should be enough if your voter ID has a photo (per the instructions it says if you use e-verify items on list B must have a photo).

Personally I would take your Canadian ID as something from list B (government ID) and a US Social Security card showing you're a citizen but we don't use e-verify.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:01 PM on September 12, 2021

I want to re-emphasize that even if your company wants to block you (which they probably don't! They probably want to help!), your local congressperson's constituent services want to solve your problem. I helped a close friend (who failed to qualify for FERPA because her abusive ex-husband did some shitty stuff with her filing) talk to our Congresswoman, and her constituent services office was immediately like "WE MUST FIX THIS, THIS IS NOT THE THING THAT THE LAW WAS MEANT TO PREVENT." My friend did not qualify under the law as it stood, but the Congresswoman and her people were utterly incensed to find out about the stupid, unwanted loophole she fell into, and were able to get her personal application for federal aid specifically waived, and then went on to change the law so other women in her situation wouldn't get trapped in a dumb law and have to talk to their Congresswoman to be able to go to college. Even if you did a very dumb thing and/or it's totally your own fault, they want to help you!

Literally no matter how dumb and unlikely the situation you stumbled into, or how flatly illegal/outside the statute, your congressperson's office wants to help you sort it out, even if it requires them to change the law to do so. Everyone in constituent services is there because THEY WANT TO HELP CONSTITUENTS and they got into politics because they have a foolish belief that they can ACTUALLY HELP CONSTITUENTS. Please ask them. Solving your problem will make their month. They will brag to their moms about it. "So this Canadian who qualified for citizenship ended up fucked without documents because the State Department was being slow," they'll say to their moms, "and they came to us to figure out how to get an I-9 ... "
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:07 PM on September 12, 2021 [12 favorites]

One note on applying for the US Passport:

In your situation, it might be worth it to also get the Passport Card at the same time as the Passport Book. The Passport Card can be used as one document that satisfies both Proof of Identity and Proof of Employment Authorization to work in the USA.

It also provides a backup ID, in case your US Passport Book is lost/misplaced/stolen.
posted by spinifex23 at 8:26 PM on September 12, 2021 [3 favorites]

FYI, even if you can't get an appointment, most of the time you can go to the DMV and waste half a day in the non-appointment line. The actual photo ID might not come for a couple weeks, but having applied might give you some traction, and might further solidify their ability to look you up on some government database(?).
posted by slidell at 10:04 PM on September 12, 2021

Since you are in New York, you should actually be able to go to the Passport Office in Tribeca and get a same-day / next-day passport without sending yours away. (I am not sure how Covid has changed this, so I would double check.) Often they require you to have travel plans coming up, but I've never actually had that checked.
posted by dame at 1:22 AM on September 13, 2021

Go line up at the passport office ASAP.

According to the USCIS website, if you got your naturalization cert in Jan 2021 you should have an N-560 (Certificate of Naturalization) which should be a Type C document.

But I have no idea what to do regarding the Type B document, other than go get the passport.
posted by kschang at 1:42 AM on September 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Often they require you to have travel plans coming up, but I've never actually had that checked.

If you're concerned about it, just make a hotel reservation in Canada that you can cancel later.

Of course I should have gotten a US passport immediately but I would have had to send away my Canadian passport

Why would you have to send your Canadian passport away? I don't remember biscotti having to do that in 2016, but I am not always a remembertron.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:06 AM on September 13, 2021

your local congressperson's constituent services want to solve your problem

Seconding this. It's not just out of altruism; this sort of thing is low-effort for staffers and wins their Members votes.

My mom was in a similar situation regarding her green card in the 1980s; she or her employer or someone contacted Frank Wolf's office and they took care of it, and for the next 30+ years, I kid you not, my parents sang the praises of Frank Wolf. FW's actual policy positions could not be further from my mom's political beliefs. Didn't matter. Frank Wolf was there for them.

I have since heard from a friend and former congressional aide that yes, this is actively a priority for most Members of Congress.
posted by basalganglia at 4:11 AM on September 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

You've gotten excellent answers to your immediate questions above, I'd just like to encourage you to be gentle with yourself about this rather than beating yourself up.

You're clearly able to navigate difficult situations well (you became a citizen! you've found lots of freelance work! you landed this job!). Bureaucracy can stymie the best of us.

In my ideal world, new citizens would each have a helpful assistant assigned to make sure all the transitions went smoothly, who would mention some of the papers you might need and help set them up for you, so you had fewer surprises to deal with down the road.

In the current weird and unhelpful bureaucracy, made WAY more difficult by the pandemic, it's NOT YOUR FAULT that a glitch came up. I'm glad you reached out to AskMe for ideas. You're doing great! And I hope all your paperwork works out fine, and you're able to start your new job soon.
posted by kristi at 1:25 PM on September 13, 2021 [2 favorites]