Immigration

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has learned that employers are receiving scam e-mails requesting Form I-9 information that appear to come from USCIS. The e-mails appear legitimate, as they originate from a USCIS.gov e-mail address (news@uscis.gov), may contain USCIS and Office of the Inspector General logos and labels, and reference the employers’ addresses. The e-mails also include a fraudulent download button that links to a non-government website (uscis-online.org). These emails are not issued by USCIS.  Employers should not respond to these e-mails or click the links within them.

USCIS does not request Forms I-9 by email. Also, employers are not required to submit Forms I-9 to USCIS as part of the employment authorization verification process. Rather, employers are required to retain completed Forms I-9 on file for each person on their payroll who is required to complete the form. Employers are also required to retain the Forms I-9 for a certain amount of time after their employees stop working for them.

Employers who have received this scam e-mail may report it to the Federal Trade Commission. If employers are not sure if the e-mail they received is a scam, they can forward the suspicious e-mail to the USCIS webmaster at uscis.webmaster@uscis.dhs.gov. USCIS will review the e-mails received and will share with law enforcement agencies if appropriate.

If you have received these fraudulent e-mails, please contact your Pryor Cashman attorney immediately to report any issues. We will continue to monitor this development closely. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions.