I-9 Compliance in Mergers and Acquisitions: An HR Guide

Do employees need new I-9 forms after an acquisition?

Not necessarily. In a merger or acquisition, an employer may have the option to treat acquired employees as continuing in employment and retain their existing Forms I-9. Alternatively, it may treat the acquired employees as new hires and complete new forms.

The distinction matters: retaining existing forms can reduce onboarding work, but the successor employer assumes responsibility for errors or omissions in those records. Completing new forms creates a substantial, time-sensitive documentation project.

For HR leaders, the first task is therefore not sending employees an onboarding link. It is confirming how the transaction affects employment, deciding which approach applies, and securing access to the records.

This guide provides practical planning information, not legal advice. Confirm transaction-specific decisions with immigration or employment counsel and review current USCIS guidance before implementation.

Understand the two I-9 approaches

USCIS addresses mergers and acquisitions in its Handbook for Employers, M-274. The appropriate implementation depends on the transaction and the employees involved.

Option 1: Retain the existing Forms I-9

An acquiring employer may keep the predecessor’s Forms I-9 and treat the acquired employees as continuing in employment.

This approach avoids requiring new forms solely because of the acquisition. However, USCIS states that the acquiring employer assumes responsibility for errors or omissions in the inherited forms.

Before choosing this route, determine whether the records actually exist, are accessible, and can be maintained. A spreadsheet showing “I-9 complete” is not a substitute for the form itself.

Also identify any outstanding compliance tasks, including required reverification. Ownership changes do not eliminate those obligations.

Option 2: Complete new Forms I-9

An employer may instead treat the acquired employees as new hires for I-9 purposes. Under USCIS guidance, it must complete new Forms I-9 no later than the third business day after the effective date of the merger or acquisition, using that effective date as the hire date.

That deadline makes advance planning essential. A large distributed workforce may require coordinated employee communications, document inspection appointments, trained representatives, and escalation support.

Apply the selected approach consistently to acquired employees, without regard to citizenship status or national origin. Do not require new forms only from workers who appear foreign-born or who previously presented particular documents.

Completing new forms should not be described as erasing historical compliance problems. Questions about predecessor liability and record disposition require separate legal review.

Review I-9 records before choosing a path

A useful diligence review answers operational questions, not just whether the seller has an I-9 policy.

Reconcile the workforce against the records

Compare the employee roster with the I-9 inventory. Separate active employees from terminated employees and identify which workers are actually transferring.

Look for:

• Active employees with no identifiable Form I-9.
• Forms associated with duplicate or outdated employee profiles.
• Records that cannot be opened or exported.
• Missing signatures, dates, or required sections.
• Upcoming reverification obligations.
• Document copies stored separately from the corresponding forms.

Use secure access controls during diligence. I-9 records contain sensitive personal information and should not circulate through unrestricted deal folders or ordinary email chains.

Review quality, not just completion percentages

A dashboard showing a high completion rate may conceal incomplete forms or inaccessible supporting records. Where a full pre-closing review is impractical, a counsel-directed sample can help identify patterns that warrant further investigation.

Ask how the seller handled remote hires, corrections, retention, and employee departures. The goal is to understand the work the buyer would inherit—not to make assumptions about individual employees’ immigration status.

Document unresolved issues so the post-closing team receives a clear action list rather than a vague instruction to “clean up I-9s.”

Make record access part of the closing plan

One significant operational risk is losing access to the seller’s HR platform before the buyer has usable records.

A transition services agreement or migration plan should address:

• Who will export and receive the records.
• Which forms, attachments, and electronic audit trails are included.
• How exported records will be checked for completeness and readability.
• Who can access the legacy system after closing, and for how long.
• How records will remain searchable and available for inspection.
• Who owns remediation and retention decisions.

For electronic forms, a folder of PDFs may not preserve everything needed to demonstrate compliance with electronic recordkeeping requirements. Evaluate signatures, associated audit trails, indexing, security, and retrieval capabilities—not merely whether the form image survived.

Our guide to electronic I-9 requirements explains the recordkeeping controls to consider during a system transition.

Treat E-Verify as a separate workstream

An I-9 decision does not automatically answer every E-Verify question.

Determine whether either organization participates in E-Verify, which hiring sites are covered, and whether a federal contract or another applicable requirement affects the acquired workforce. Account administration and enrollment arrangements may also need review.

Do not assume that every acquired employee should be entered into E-Verify merely because ownership changed. Likewise, do not assume that retaining existing I-9s resolves all E-Verify obligations.

Check the current E-Verify merger and acquisition guidance and seek program assistance where the account or transaction circumstances are unclear. Identify who will manage any unresolved cases during the transition so responsibilities do not disappear between organizations.

Build an execution plan before closing

Translate the selected approach into named responsibilities and measurable deliverables.

If you retain existing forms

Assign owners to:

1. Confirm receipt of the complete record inventory.
2. Reconcile transferred records against the acquired workforce.
3. Review identified defects and establish a compliant correction process.
4. Transfer reverification reminders and retention controls.
5. Test retrieval from the buyer’s system.

Do not backdate corrections or recreate missing employee attestations on someone else’s behalf. Escalate missing forms and substantive defects for appropriate remediation.

If you complete new forms

Prepare the employee roster, compliant forms, inspection arrangements, communications, and completion tracking before the effective date.

Employees must be allowed to choose which acceptable documents to present. The acquisition does not authorize HR to demand a passport, green card, or the same documents used for the predecessor’s form.

For distributed teams, decide how document examination will occur. Remote employment alone does not make remote document inspection permissible; any alternative procedure must meet current eligibility and procedural requirements.

Trak’s Form I-9 verification and E-Verify services can support a coordinated process across hiring locations.

Keep the transition focused on continuity and accountability

A successful I-9 transition requires more than choosing between old forms and new ones. It requires accessible records, a defensible process, clear employee instructions, and owners for every outstanding task.

Start early enough that the closing date does not become the first day anyone asks where the forms are stored.

Planning a merger or acquisition? Contact Trak Services to discuss I-9 workflow, record transition, and verification support.