Form I-9 for staffing agencies: who completes it, the pool start date, short and remote assignments, and client requests

For temps and contract workers on a staffing agency's payroll, the agency is the employer and completes Form I-9; the client that receives their labor does not. For a direct-hire placement, the client completes it, because the client is the one hiring. A firm that only recruits or refers candidates for a fee has no Form I-9 duty for them unless it is an agricultural association, agricultural employer or farm labor contractor. Agencies also get one rule of their own: they may use either the first-assignment date or the date a worker entered the assignment pool as the first day of employment. That is the position on uscis.gov as of November 2026.

This page is the Form I-9 side of staffing. The E-Verify side, including federal contractor flow-downs and client requests to skip or repeat cases, is in E-Verify for staffing agencies; what the client should check at its own site is in how to verify staffing agency workers.

Who completes Form I-9 in each staffing arrangement?

The client is not off the hook entirely. 8 CFR 274a.5 says a business that uses a contract to obtain the labor of someone it knows is not authorized to work is treated as having hired that person unlawfully. That is why clients ask agencies for assurances, and why the contract should say who verifies; see joint employer liability for staffing agencies.

Which date is the first day of employment for a pool worker?

USCIS's Completing Section 2 page says staffing agencies "may choose to use either the date an employee is assigned to the employee's first job or the date the new employee is entered into the assignment pool as the first day of employment." E-Verify's FAQ adds two conditions: do not leave the first-day or certification date blank while waiting for an assignment, and use the same choice consistently on every Form I-9 and E-Verify case.

1. Pick one approach per agency and write it into the onboarding procedure.
2. Pool-date approach: the worker accepts an offer and joins the pool; Section 1 is due that day, Section 2 within three business days, and the retention clock starts from that date.
3. First-assignment approach: the worker may complete Section 1 any time after accepting the offer, and you may examine documents early, but the first day of employment is the first assignment, and Section 2 is due within three business days of it.
4. Make payroll match. USCIS's general tips say the first-day date should match payroll records.

When does a returning temp need a new Form I-9?

Form I-9 follows the hire, not the assignment. A temp who finishes an assignment and stays in your active pool may be a continuing employee under 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(viii), which looks at whether the person had a reasonable expectation of employment at all times: regular and substantial work, your history of recalling people, communications about more work, and whether they took benefits inconsistent with returning. If so, keep using the existing form. A worker who was formally separated and comes back is a rehire: within three years of the original form you may complete Supplement B instead of a new form, and after three years you need a new one. Form I-9 for rehires has the decision table; whatever policy you adopt, apply it to every returning worker.

How do short and remote assignments change things?

• Assignments under three business days. For a hire lasting less than three business days, such as a single event or a weekend shift, Sections 1 and 2 must both be complete by the end of the first day, and the regulation bars accepting a receipt in place of a document.
• Workers far from a branch. Any agency may designate an authorized representative near the worker, such as a notary, a client site contact or a document-check service, to examine documents in person and sign Section 2. The same person who examines must sign, a notary acting this way should not add a seal, and the agency stays liable for the representative's errors. See I-9 authorized representatives.
• Video examination. The DHS alternative procedure is open only to E-Verify employers in good standing at their E-Verify hiring sites. If you offer it at a site you must offer it consistently there, though you may limit it to remote hires while examining onsite and hybrid workers in person, so long as the choice is not made for a discriminatory purpose. See I-9 remote verification.
• Which address goes in Section 2. USCIS says an employer with several locations should use the address that best identifies its location for that employee's Form I-9, such as the branch where the form is completed. Never a P.O. box.

What if a recruiter helps the candidate with Section 1?

Agency recruiters often walk candidates through onboarding, sometimes in another language. Anyone who helps complete or translate Section 1 is a preparer or translator and must complete a certification block on Supplement A; the candidate still signs Section 1. The recruiter records the candidate's answers and does not choose the status box or ask for documents to back up what was entered. See Form I-9 Supplement A.

What can a client ask for, and what should the agency refuse?

Reasonable client requests: confirmation that the agency completes Form I-9 and, where enrolled, E-Verify for its employees; compliance with state E-Verify laws where the workers are; and, for federal contract work, acceptance of the flow-down of the FAR E-Verify clause, FAR 52.222-54, still current on acquisition.gov as of November 2026. Requests to refuse:

• Copies of Form I-9 or the documents. 8 CFR 274a.2(b)(4) says information on or attached to the form, including document copies, may be used only for enforcing the immigration law and certain federal criminal statutes. Offer a written confirmation instead.
• "Only send us workers with a green card," or a specific document from non-citizens. The worker chooses the documents, and the Form I-9 anti-discrimination notice says treating employees differently based on citizenship, immigration status or national origin may be illegal.
• Pulling a worker because their EAD expires soon. The instructions say employers should not reject acceptable documentation because of a future expiration date.

The Justice Department's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section has penalized agencies for exactly these practices. Its settlements page lists a November 2024 agreement with Key Fortune, a California staffing agency doing business as Express Employment Professionals, which refused to honor a worker's valid EAD and would not place her until she showed an updated one; a June 2024 agreement with Selective Personnel, a Southern California staffing company that required non-U.S. citizens to produce specific documents; and an April 2024 agreement with Infinity Employment Solutions, formerly doing business as Express Employment Professionals of Mesquite, Texas, which rejected a permanent resident's documents and asked for a specific one. When a client's job order asks for any of these, put the refusal in writing and keep it with the order.

How should a multi-branch agency keep and retain Forms I-9?

• Retention. Keep each form for three years after the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever is later. If you reused a form for a rehire, the three years run from the date the form was first completed. The date of hire is whichever first-day approach you chose.
• Inspection. Agencies get at least three business days' notice of an inspection. Forms kept at another branch or off-site still have to be produced, so keep one index of where every form is.
• One file, many assignments. The form belongs to the hire, so do not create duplicate forms when a worker moves between clients or branches.
• E-Verify records. USCIS announced that E-Verify employers have until January 8, 2027 to download records for cases last updated on or before December 31, 2016, before they are disposed of on January 11, 2027. High-volume agencies should plan that download now.

A staffing agency Form I-9 checklist

• Each placement type mapped to the entity that completes Form I-9.
• One written first-day approach, pool date or first assignment, used on every form and case.
• Continuing-employment and rehire rules applied the same way to every returning worker.
• Same-day Sections 1 and 2 for assignments under three business days; no receipts.
• Authorized representatives briefed in writing; video examination only at E-Verify sites.
• Supplement A signed by every recruiter who helps with Section 1.
• No I-9 copies to clients; written confirmation instead.
• Client job orders screened for document or citizenship demands.
• Central index of forms across branches, with a retention date for each separated worker.