Ever since the Employment Eligibility Verification form (I-9) was released in March 2013, notaries have questioned whether it needs to be notarized.

According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, employers may designate an authorized representative to fill out the I-9 forms on behalf of their company, including personnel officers, foremen, agents or notaries public.

When completing the I-9, the employer or authorized representative must physically examine, with the employee present, each document presented to determine if it reasonably appears to be genuine and relates to the employee presenting it. Reviewing or examining documents via webcam is not permissible.

If the employer uses a notary public, the notary public is acting as an authorized representative of the employer, not as a notary. The notary must perform the same required actions as an authorized representative and when doing so, should not place his or her official notary stamp on the I-9 form.

In other words, the I-9 form is NOT to be notarized.