- I-9 penalties have increased sharply, with fines for paperwork violations now ranging from $288 to $2,861 per form, and knowing-hire violations reaching up to $28,619 per worker (DHS, January 2, 2025)
- E-Verify is mandatory in at least 11 states for most private employers, and several states enacted new or expanded mandates in 2025 and 2026
- State laws directly conflict: California and Illinois restrict employer cooperation with immigration enforcement, while Florida and Alabama impose aggressive E-Verify requirements and penalties
- H-1B geographic compliance requires a new LCA whenever a worker moves outside the Metropolitan Statistical Area listed on the original application, with penalties up to $2,364 per non-willful violation or $9,624 per willful violation (DOL)
- Anti-discrimination liability is rising alongside enforcement, with the DOJ's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section collecting six-figure penalties from employers that over-verify or discriminate by citizenship status
- Alma helps multi-state employers manage H-1B, L-1, and green card compliance through its attorney-led platform with real-time case tracking and deadline alerts
For employers sponsoring foreign workers across multiple states, immigration compliance has become one of the highest-stakes operational obligations in 2026. ICE worksite enforcement surged dramatically in 2025, with operations running at roughly ten times the rate of the prior year. Several states passed or expanded E-Verify or employment-verification mandates, including Montana and Ohio. Worker-protection statutes in California, Illinois, and Washington now directly conflict with federal enforcement tactics, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act significantly increased enforcement funding. This guide covers the federal and state obligations that HR teams and business leaders face, along with practical steps to stay audit-ready.
Federal I-9 Compliance: What Every Employer Must Know
The Form I-9 is the foundation of employment verification in the United States. Every employer, regardless of size, must complete an I-9 for each person hired. The current edition (01/20/2025) remains valid through 05/31/2027. The January 2025 revision reverted the citizenship status checkbox language from "A noncitizen authorized to work" back to "An alien authorized to work," updated descriptions of two List B documents (changing "gender" to "sex"), and updated the DHS Privacy Notice.
Completion Deadlines and Retention
Employees must complete Section 1 no later than their first day of work. Employers must complete Section 2 within three business days of the hire date (or on the first day if employment lasts fewer than three days). Retention follows a simple formula: keep each I-9 for whichever is later, three years from the date of hire or one year after employment ends. I-9s are typically stored separately from general personnel files so they can be produced quickly during an audit.
Remote Verification Rules
The COVID-era blanket flexibility for remote document inspection ended on July 31, 2023. A permanent "Alternative Procedure" is now available, but only for employers enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing. Under this procedure, the employer receives transmitted copies of the employee's documents, then conducts a live video interaction where the employee presents the same physical documents on camera. The employer checks the "Alternative Procedure" box on the I-9 and retains clear copies for the full retention period. Employers not enrolled in E-Verify must inspect documents in person or use an authorized representative.
Important: COVID-era I-9 cleanup deadline. All I-9s completed under COVID remote flexibilities were required to be physically re-examined by August 30, 2023. Any form that was not remediated by that date is non-compliant and subject to penalties.
2026 Penalty Structure
Civil monetary penalties were last adjusted on January 2, 2025 (DHS). A March 2026 ICE guidance update reclassified several previously "technical" errors (such as missing date of birth, missing hire date, or use of the Spanish I-9 outside Puerto Rico) as substantive violations, narrowing the scope of the 10-business-day correction window.
Paperwork/substantive errors: $288 to $2,861 per I-9 form
Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ unauthorized workers: $716 to $5,724 per worker for a first offense, escalating to $8,586 to $28,619 per worker for third and subsequent offenses
Document fraud: $590 to $4,730 per document for a first offense, up to $11,823 for subsequent offenses
ICE calculates fines using five factors: business size, good faith compliance efforts, seriousness of the violation, whether unauthorized workers were involved, and prior violation history. Each factor can adjust the base fine by up to 5%, for a cumulative maximum adjustment of ±25% across all five factors.
E-Verify Requirements by State
E-Verify and employment-verification mandates vary significantly across states, creating a patchwork that multi-state employers must map to each location where they have employees. As of early 2026, several tiers exist.
States Requiring E-Verify or Employment Verification for Most Private Employers
Alabama (all employers since 2012), Arizona (all employers since 2008), Florida (employers with 25+ employees since July 2023), Georgia (employers with 11+ employees), Louisiana (all employers; E-Verify or alternative document verification), Mississippi (all employers), Montana (all employers as of July 2025; E-Verify or I-9 documentation alternative under HB 226, the LEGAL Act), North Carolina (employers with 25+ employees), South Carolina (all employers), Tennessee (employers with 35+ employees), and Utah (employers with 150+ employees).
States Requiring E-Verify for Specific Sectors or Government Contractors
Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota (contracts over $50,000), Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania (public works), Texas (state agencies and contractors only), Virginia (contracts over $50,000), and West Virginia.
Ohio enacted the E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act (HB 246, signed December 19, 2025, effective March 19, 2026), which requires E-Verify for all nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors, and labor brokers, including both public works and private-sector projects. The mandate does not apply to residential construction.
States That Restrict E-Verify
California prohibits state and local governments from mandating E-Verify as a condition of contracts or business licenses, with penalties up to $10,000 per violation for employer misuse. Illinois permits voluntary use but bars employers from imposing verification requirements stricter than what federal law requires.
Pending Federal E-Verify Legislation
The Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 251), introduced in January 2025, proposed a phased nationwide E-Verify mandate but has not been enacted as of April 2026. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed July 4, 2025) significantly increased enforcement funding but does not include mandatory E-Verify provisions for private employers.
Multi-state compliance note. Employers with workers in multiple states may find it operationally useful to map each state's mandate tier and evaluate voluntary enrollment where it is not yet required. Even if a company's headquarters is in a state without a mandate, any employee working in a mandatory state triggers the obligation for that employee.
State Worker-Protection Laws That Conflict with Federal Enforcement
Several states have enacted laws that directly limit how employers may cooperate with federal immigration authorities. Employers operating across these jurisdictions must follow both federal requirements and state-specific restrictions simultaneously.
California
AB 450 (effective 2018) prohibits employers from allowing immigration agents to enter non-public workplace areas without a judicial warrant (not an administrative warrant), from voluntarily providing employee records without a subpoena, judicial warrant, or Notice of Inspection, and from re-verifying employment eligibility beyond what federal law requires. Employers must notify all current employees within 72 hours of receiving a Notice of Inspection and must notify each affected employee within 72 hours of receiving inspection results. Penalties range from $2,000 to $5,000 for a first violation up to $5,000 to $10,000 for repeat violations.
SB 294, the Workplace Know Your Rights Act (signed October 2025; employer notice obligations effective February 1, 2026), requires all California employers to provide a stand-alone written notice at hire and annually (by February 1, 2026, for existing employees) that covers immigration inspection protections, constitutional protections when interacting with law enforcement at work, protection against unfair immigration-related practices, and other specified workplace rights. Employers must also offer employees the opportunity to designate an emergency contact by March 30, 2026. The law carries civil penalties for notice failures, and penalties up to $10,000 per employee for failing to notify an employee's designated emergency contact following an arrest or detention.
Illinois
SB 2339 (signed December 12, 2025, effective immediately) amended the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act to bar employers from taking adverse action against employees solely based on discrepancy notifications from the SSA, IRS, or other non-immigration-enforcement third parties. Within 5 business days of receiving such a notification, employers must provide written notice to the affected employee with an explanation, required actions, and time to contest discrepancies. Penalties range from $100 to $1,000 per violation for first offenses, $1,000 to $5,000 for subsequent offenses within a three-year period, plus reinstatement, back pay, and up to $10,000 for lost employment. The law creates a private right of action for employees.
Washington
SSB 5104 (effective July 1, 2025) prohibits employers from using a worker's real or perceived immigration status to threaten or coerce them regarding protected workplace activities. Civil penalties reach up to $1,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second, and $10,000 for third and subsequent violations.
Florida
SB 1718 takes the opposite approach, imposing E-Verify on private employers with 25+ employees and adding criminal penalties for knowingly transporting into Florida a person who entered the United States without inspection. Employers who fail E-Verify three times within 24 months face $1,000-per-day fines. For knowingly employing unauthorized workers, license suspension of up to 30 days applies for 1 to 10 workers, up to 60 days for 11 to 50, and revocation for more than 50.
H-1B and L-1 Compliance Across Multiple States
For employers sponsoring workers on H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B visas, geographic changes trigger specific compliance obligations that are easy to miss in a multi-state operation.
LCA Posting and Worksite Changes
Each Labor Condition Application must be posted in at least two conspicuous locations at every place of employment for a minimum of 10 days, or posted electronically on an intranet accessible to all H-1B and co-workers under 20 CFR §655.734(a)(1)(ii)(B). When an H-1B employee moves to a worksite outside the Metropolitan Statistical Area listed on the existing LCA, the employer must file a new LCA with the Department of Labor and potentially an amended H-1B petition with USCIS under the Simeio Solutions standard. Moving within the same MSA does not require a new LCA, but the existing LCA must be posted at the new location.
Short-Term Placement Exception
An employer may place an H-1B worker at an unlisted location for up to 30 workdays in a 12-month period without filing a new LCA, provided the employer pays all travel costs and continues paying the required wage. This extends to 60 workdays if the worker maintains a permanent workstation at the original site, spends a substantial amount of time at the permanent worksite, and resides in that area. Violating these provisions may permanently disqualify the employer from using this exception for that occupational classification in that area.
Remote Work Creates Hidden Compliance Gaps
An employee's home becomes a "worksite" if they work from it regularly. If the home is in a different MSA, the employer must file a new LCA using the home location's prevailing wage, and likely an amended H-1B petition. The H-1B Modernization Rule (effective January 17, 2025) codified this worksite-change amendment requirement.
Public Access File
Every H-1B employer must maintain a Public Access File for each LCA. The PAF must be made available for public examination within one working day of filing the LCA and must be continuously accessible thereafter. The PAF must contain the certified LCA, pay rate documentation, prevailing wage source, posting evidence, and a benefits summary. Penalties for PAF violations reach up to $2,364 per non-willful violation (or $9,624 for willful violations), plus back-wage liability and potential H-1B program debarment for at least one year (or at least two years for willful violations). The maximum penalty for willful violations causing displacement of U.S. workers reaches $67,367.
L-1 Workers: Greater Flexibility, Different Risks
L-1 visa holders are not subject to LCA requirements, so there are no prevailing wage or posting obligations tied to specific locations. However, USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) officers conduct unannounced site visits and expect the employer to maintain legitimate physical business premises. L-1B workers at third-party worksites face additional scrutiny regarding who controls their day-to-day work.
Alma helps employers stay ahead of worksite compliance. When a worker's location changes, a dedicated Alma attorney flags the filing requirement before it becomes a violation. For details on pricing and platform capabilities, see Alma's pricing page.
The Enforcement Landscape in 2025 and 2026
ICE worksite enforcement in 2025 reached levels not seen in over a decade. Publicly reported operations included roughly 475 individuals detained at a Hyundai-LG battery plant construction site in Georgia (the largest single-site enforcement operation in Homeland Security Investigations history), Notices of Inspection served to over 100 D.C.-area businesses including numerous restaurants, and a Denver enforcement action that produced over $8 million in fines against three janitorial companies.
Three structural changes make this enforcement posture durable. First, the ICE-IRS memorandum of understanding (April 2025) authorizes ICE to request individual taxpayer identity data, including names, addresses, and tax identification numbers, for individuals with final removal orders or under criminal investigation, operating under IRC §6103(i)(2). The MOU does not authorize access to employer payroll or W-2 records. Second, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provided unprecedented enforcement funding, including resources to hire 10,000 additional ICE officers and agents. Third, a June 2025 interim final rule compressed the appeals timeline for individual immigration-related civil penalties (unlawful entry, failure to depart). Employer I-9 penalty proceedings follow separate procedures under 28 CFR Part 68, which were not directly modified by this rule, though legal commentators have noted potential indirect effects on the broader employer enforcement framework.
Anti-Discrimination: The Other Side of the I-9 Coin
The DOJ's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section enforces four prohibited practices: citizenship status discrimination, national origin discrimination, unfair documentary practices (document abuse), and retaliation.
Document abuse is the most common violation. It occurs when an employer requests more documents than required, specifies which documents to present (such as asking for a green card by name), rejects documents that reasonably appear genuine, or applies different standards to different employees. Workers have the right to choose which acceptable documents they present. Under federal law, employers are required to apply identical verification procedures to every employee regardless of appearance, accent, or perceived national origin.
Penalties for general unfair immigration-related employment practices reach $590 to $4,730 per individual for a first offense and up to $23,647 for third or subsequent offenses, plus back pay, hiring orders, and DOJ monitoring. Unfair documentary practices specifically carry penalties of $236 to $2,364 per individual. Recent settlements include six-figure penalties against IT staffing firms for posting positions restricted by citizenship status without legal justification.
Why Choose Alma for Multi-State Compliance?
See how Alma's business clients maintain compliance across multiple states and visa categories.
Traditional law firms charge hourly rates that make proactive compliance expensive and reactive. Alma's attorney-led, technology-enabled platform is built for multi-state employers managing complex immigration portfolios, with an industry-high approval rate.
Centralized visa tracking: Alma's platform monitors every sponsored employee's visa status, LCA posting deadlines, prevailing wage requirements, and work authorization expirations across all locations. Automated alerts flag compliance events before they become violations.
Experienced attorneys: Every case is handled by a dedicated attorney who understands the interaction between federal requirements and state-specific obligations. Whether the filing involves an H-1B amendment for a worksite change, an L-1 extension, or employment-based green cards for key employees, Alma's team handles the process while the employer focuses on business operations.
Transparent, flat-fee pricing: Alma's pricing is published and per-case, with no hourly billing surprises. H-1B amendments are $3,000 flat. RFE responses are included. Payment plans are available.
Scalable for growth: From startups filing their first H-1B to enterprise companies managing hundreds of sponsored workers, Alma scales with employer needs.
Get started with a consultation to assess multi-state compliance posture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common practice for multi-state employers is a comprehensive annual audit plus quarterly spot checks covering at least 10% of recent hires per location. Audits typically cover all current employees and terminated employees still within the retention period, cross-referenced against payroll to identify missing forms. Audit samples are generally defined by neutral criteria such as hire date, location, or department, rather than by citizenship or national origin. Section 1 errors are corrected by having the employee draw a line through the error, write the correct information, then initial and date. Section 2 errors follow the same process but are corrected by the employer. A new Form I-9 may be created to correct multiple or substantial errors, but it must be attached to the original with a written explanation. Employers generally avoid backdating or using white-out. Many employers conduct audits under the direction of immigration counsel to preserve attorney-client privilege. For guidance, USCIS offers free employment eligibility webinars.
Employers commonly designate a response team in advance with clear roles: who receives the Notice of Inspection, who contacts counsel, who interacts with agents, and who documents everything. Employers have three business days to produce I-9s after receiving a NOI. Administrative warrants do not authorize entry to non-public areas; a judicial warrant is required for such access. In California, employers must notify employees within 72 hours under AB 450. Alma's business clients receive ICE response protocol guidance as part of their compliance support.
Yes. If an employee works from a state that mandates E-Verify and the employer meets that state's size threshold, E-Verify must be run for that employee regardless of where the company's headquarters is located. Employers already using E-Verify also gain access to the remote I-9 verification Alternative Procedure, which can simplify onboarding for distributed teams.
Inconsistency. Running different I-9 procedures, E-Verify practices, or document requests at different locations is a common path to both discrimination claims and audit failures. The DOJ penalizes employers who ask for specific documents or apply stricter verification at some locations but not others. A centralized system with standardized workflows, like Alma's platform, helps ensure every location follows the same compliant process.
Short business trips (meetings, conferences, training) that do not involve productive employment at the destination generally do not trigger a new LCA. However, if the employee is performing regular job duties at a location outside the approved MSA, the 30-day short-term placement rule applies. If the employee will work at a new location for more than 30 workdays (or 60 under certain conditions), a new LCA is required and an H-1B amendment may also be necessary. Alma's attorneys can assess each situation and file proactively to avoid violations.
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