Special Employment Categories

Guidance for Employees that fall into Special Categories include:

• Employees in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Individuals hired for employment in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
• Employees from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau: Individuals hired for employment who are from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau.
• Domestic workers: Individuals who perform child care, household tasks, and/or upkeep of a home or surrounding yard on a regular basis in return for wages or other benefits, and who are not independent contractors or providing services on a sporadic basis or for independent contractors or separate businesses.
• Minors: Individuals under the age of 18
• Employees with disabilities: Individuals with physical or mental impairments that significantly limits one or more major life activities and are placed in a job by a nonprofit organization or association, or as part of a rehabilitation program.
• Temporary Protected Status (TPS) beneficiaries: Certain individuals from specific foreign countries beset by extraordinary and temporary conditions such as natural disasters and civil wars.
• Asylees and refugees: Non-U.S. citizens who typically have left their own country and are unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
• Foreign students: Individuals coming temporarily to the U.S. to pursue a full course of study in an approved program in either an academic or vocational institution, or a recognized nonacademic institution. (Academic institutions include colleges, universities, seminary, conservatories, academic high schools, elementary schools, other institutions, and language training programs.)
• Exchange visitors: Individuals coming temporarily to the U.S as participants in exchange programs administered by the U.S. Department of State.
• E-Visa holders: Treaty traders and investors who are citizens or nationals of a country that has a treaty of commerce and navigation with the U.S. and who come to the U.S. under such treaty. This category also includes Australian specialty occupation workers.
• NAFTA (TN) workers: Professionals and other workers from Canada and Mexico coming temporarily under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which created special economic and trade relationships for the U.S., Canada and Mexico. U.S.
• Temporary nonimmigrant workers: Individuals coming to the U.S. lawfully as nonimmigrants to work temporarily in the U.S.
• Mergers and acquisitions: Employers’ Form I-9 responsibilities may be affected when they are acquired by another company or merge with another company.
• Employees resuming their job after a temporary break in employment: Individuals may be considered to be continuing in employment (with no new Form I-9 required) if, for example, they return to work after taking approved paid or unpaid leave or being laid off.

In some cases, employers do not need to complete or keep a Form I-9.