[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 230 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 61630-61631]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-29128]




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Part III





Department of Justice





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Immigration and Naturalization Service



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8 CFR Part 274a



Demonstration Project Concerning Electronic Options for Processing of 
Forms I-9; Proposed Rule

  Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 230 / Thursday, November 30, 1995 / 
Proposed Rules  

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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Immigration and Naturalization Service

8 CFR Part 274a

[INS No. 1713-95]
RIN 1115-AB73


Demonstration Project Concerning Electronic Options for 
Processing of Forms I-9

AGENCY: Immigration and Naturalization Service, Justice.

ACTION: Notice inviting submission of applications.

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SUMMARY: The Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
(Service) invites applications from businesses, consortium of 
businesses, other employing entities interested in participating in a 
demonstration project dealing with the electronic production and/or 
storage of a Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form. This 
notice and proposed demonstration project are the result of numerous 
inquiries made by members of the business community expressing a desire 
to electronically produce and/or store the Form I-9. If the project is 
found to be successful, changes to existing regulations governing the 
methods of production, completions, storage, and output of the Form I-9 
will be promulgated.

DATES: Written applications, responding to all of the Application 
Requirements and Criteria cited in this notice, must be submitted on or 
before January 29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Please submit an original application and five copies to the 
Immigration and Naturalization Service, 425 I Street, NW., Room 1000, 
Washington, DC 20536 Attention: Form I-9 Demonstration Project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert Atwater, Immigration and Naturalization Service, 425 I Street, 
NW., Room 1000, Washington, DC 20536, telephone (202) 514-2998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Statutory Authority

    Pursuant to the authority contained in Section 274A(d)(4) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act, the Service plans to conduct a 
demonstration project to test different methods of electronic 
preparation, completion, storage, and output of the Employment 
Eligibility Verification Form (Form I-9).

Purpose

    The purpose of this demonstration project is to investigate and 
test various technologies which would provide both the private sector 
and the Government with electronic alternatives to paper Forms I-9 
which will address compliance and enforcement needs under the 
Immigration and Nationality Act.

Goals

     To assess existing technologies for electronic 
preparation, completion, storage, and/or output of Forms I-9.
     To develop prototype processes.
     To identify specific technological standards for 
electronic Form I-9 processes.
     To draft legislative and/or regulatory proposals which 
would allow for implementation of an electronic Form I-9 process on a 
national scale.

Application Requirements and Criteria

    No specific application form has been designed for this 
demonstration project; however, applicants must follow the format 
prescribed in Section III below.
    Applicants may wish to refer to the Federal ``Guidelines for 
Security of Computer Applications,'' FIPS Publication 73.

I. Eligibility for Participation

    Any business, consortium of businesses, or other employing 
entities, may submit an application for participation in the 
demonstration project provided they, or a client business for which 
they provide Form I-9 services, meet the following criteria: they have 
been in operation at least 1 year; have at least 100 employees, either 
at one or multiple locations; have their headquarters in the United 
States; have or are able to have available the resources to begin their 
demonstration project within 3 months of approval; and agree to 
participate in the an evaluation of the project (through reporting 
mechanisms as well as on-site reviews).

II. Project Restrictions

    The Service will not, at this time, entertain approaches which 
include the use of an electronic identifier, e.g. PIN number, without 
an associated written signature. Companies proposing to electronically 
generate or store Forms I-9 and/or related signatures should include 
samples of computer-generated signatures and associated originals for 
evaluation by the Service's Forensic Document Lab.
    Scanned signatures must be of photographic quality. Handwritten 
signatures made with black ballpoint pen on white paper forms, scanned 
at a minimum resolution of 600 horizontal  x  1200 vertical dots per 
inch (DPI) optical resolution (color) with output resolution of 
1200 x 1200 DPI and produced by a printer at a minimum of 512 lines per 
inch (LPI) on photographic (dry silver) paper, or 600 DPI on a laser 
jet printer, may produce a signature acceptable for INS forensic 
examination as long as magnetic disk (3.5'') containing 600 x 1200 DPI 
color optical resolution with output resolution of 1200 x 1200 DPI 
scanned image is available. Compression of the scanned image on the 
disk will not be acceptable; image must be in a Tagged-image file 
format (TIF).
    Participants will be required to retain hard copies of the Forms I-
9 for a specified term.

III. Information To Be Included in the Application

    A. A company profile should be provided to include: The company 
name; headquarters address; listing of additional company locations, if 
any; number of employees (total and/or number by location); average 
number of new hires per year; if the data is available, the average 
number of reverifications per year; and the name and phone number of 
the company contact for this project.
    B. A brief summary of the approach described in the application. 
Such a summary may be published in the Federal Register notice 
announcing the implementation of the demonstration project.
    C. The company's plan describing, in as much detail as possible, 
the method to be employed to electronically prepare, complete, store, 
and/or output Forms I-9. (Your need only address the areas which your 
company would be interested in pursuing).
    1. Describe the process from completion of the Form I-9 by the 
employee and employer to storage.
    2. Indicate measures to be taken to ensure the integrity of the 
employment verification process as outlined in Title 8 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations, Part 274a. Include issues such as the provision of 
the Form I-9 instructions and the listing of acceptable documents to 
all employees during the verification process.
    3. Discuss the scope of the project within your company and clearly 
indicate whether or not all new hires and reverifications will be 
included in this process.
    4a. Discuss the type of equipment and software which will be used 
and describe the information flow of the system (i.e., how the new 
process would work compared to the present manual/paper-based process).
    b. Discuss the number of staff resources which will be used to 
support 

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the initiatives being proposed. If it will be necessary for your 
company to acquire additional or specialized equipment and/or staff for 
the purposes of this initiative, provide the costs and timeframe 
associated with this effort.
    c. Include a process map and/or flow chart of system operation; 
description of data elements; description and specification of the 
software to be used; and specifications for all equipment devices 
(input scanner, storage device, etc.).
    5. Describe the specific Form I-9 data which will be capture 
electronically; where and how it will be stored; procedures for 
ensuring the integrity of the database; where and how data will be 
output; what the methods and timeframes will be for electronic record 
retention and disposal; and what, if any, hardcopy versions of the Form 
I-9 will be used in the process. If electronic signatures are a 
component of the proposal, describe how the electronic signature will 
be linked to a physical signature by the same individual (refer to 
Section II. Project Restrictions, above).
    6. Explain plans for internal assessment of the project's 
performance throughout the demonstration period.
    D. If any provisions of the current regulations will need to be 
waived for purposes of the demonstration, describe these and also 
explain how your proposed process would achieve the same purpose as the 
existing regulations.
    E. Describe the electronic access which will be available if your 
company is proposing to digitally store data.
    F. Identify accompanying recordkeeping procedures which would allow 
the Government to verify the signature and date of the form's 
preparation, revision, and/or updating.
    G. Provide a brief analysis of the cost and benefits associated 
with the electronic Form I-9 process being proposed.

IV. Criteria to be Used to Evaluate Applications

    A. Eligibility under the requirements set forth in Item I of this 
notice (10 percent);
    B. Comprehensiveness and quality of the application, particularly 
with respect to the integrity of the verification process and the 
security of the proposed system (22 percent);
    C. Likelihood of the system to gain widespread adoption and 
acceptance, as reflected in the technology, start-up costs, and cost-
benefit analysis (20 percent);
    D. Likelihood of the system to facilitate compliance with the 
verification process and to permit the Government to independently 
review the employer's compliance with the law, as reflected in the 
proposed audit trail and methods of providing Government access (22 
percent);
    E. The company's ability, as described in the application, to: 
ensure that all activities described in its plan are performed in 
accordance with the applicant's proposal, be able to implement its 
proposal within 3 months of approval, and commit to at least 24 months 
participation in the project (10 percent);
    F. The number of new hires/verification transactions per year (3 
percent);
    G. Achievement of a mix of technologies and procedures (10 
percent); and
    H. In the event the Service receives a number of equally qualified 
applications, preference may be given based upon the date the 
application was received (3 percent).
    An applicant's failure to adequately address evaluation criteria A-
F may result in denial of the application.
    The final review panel will be composed of no fewer than five 
members with experience in information systems, forensic document 
examinations, investigations, and legal compliance. They will 
recommend, to the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service (Commissioner), no more than 20 applicants for participation in 
the demonstration project. The final decision will be made by the 
Commissioner. Applications which are not approved for this 
demonstration project will be retained for possible future 
consideration.
    The Service will endeavor to complete the evaluation process and 
make final participant selections within 3 months following the close 
of the application period. Participants will be required to enter into 
a Memorandum of Understanding with the Service. All participants in the 
demonstration project will be advised that their involvement in the 
project will not preclude the Government from conducting compliance 
audits and any other enforcement actions.

OMB Reporting Burden

    The public reporting burden for this collection of information is 
estimated to be 23 hours, including time for reviewing instructions, 
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data 
needed, and completing and reviewing the collections of information. 
Please send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect 
of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing 
this burden, to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 425 I 
Street, NW, HQPDI, Room 5307, Washington, DC 20536. These requirements 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the 
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, and are recorded as OMB 
Control Number 1115-0198, with an expiration date of 9-30-98.

    Dated: November 22, 1995.
Doris Meissner,
Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service.
[FR Doc. 95-29128 Filed 11-29-95; 8:45 am]
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