If you prepare Forms I-9 for your company, note that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has switched the color of ink it uses to stamp certain documents that could be used for I-9 purposes from red to blue ink. This would be relevant, for instance, in a scenario where you have a high population of new hires that are refugees and they provide you with a refugee document. Just because the color of the ink has changed, doesn’t necessarily mean that the document is not valid. Therefore, moving forward you may see government documents with stamps in blue, red and black.
See below from a Customs and Border Protection post:
“As of July 1, 2014, U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began using a new secure blue ink for many of its secure stamps. The older secure red ink will be retired and no longer used by USCIS on the effective date.
USCIS stamps with secure blue ink:
- Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Parole Stamp
- Temporary I-551 Alien Documentary Identification and Telecommunication (ADIT) Stamp
- Refugee Stamp (Section 207)
- Asylum Stamp (Section 208)
- Initial / Replacement I-94 Stamp
USCIS will continue to use regular black ink on the following stamps:
- Approval Stamp (Applications Received)
- Denial Stamp (Applications Received)
- Director’s Signature Stamp (Certificates of Naturalization, Certificates of Citizenship)
- Other USCIS similar documents”