The Immigration and Naturalization Service has taken one small step in cyberspace, but one potentially large leap in customer service.
INS has placed its I-9 form online for users to download at www.usdoj.gov/ins. That may not sound like much, but since the I-9 form is actually one of government's most oft-used forms, it could make life easier for thousands of businesses. Employers must fill out an I-9 for each new worker they hire, to verify that the employee is eligible to work in the United States. A change in regulation in October made it possible to provide the form online.
According to Bill McElhaney, chief of the Office Systems Section at INS, the I-9 form is the first of several forms which are working their way through the agency's approval process to be posted on the Net.
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