Right to work documents are documents that employees must provide to their employers to show their identity and authorization to work in the United States. These documents are required under the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act, and new employees must present proof that they are legally authorized to work in the United States.

The Form I-9 Acceptable Documents list provides a comprehensive list of documents that employees can present to establish their employment authorization and identity. The documents on List A show both identity and employment authorization, while List B shows identity and List C shows employment authorization. Some List A documents are a combination of two or more documents, and in these cases, the documents presented together count as one List A document.

Examples of acceptable documents include a U.S. passport, Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551), and an unexpired foreign passport that contains a temporary I-551 stamp. An employee must present a document or combination of documents from List A or one document from List B and one document from List C or an acceptable receipt for those documents within three business days of the date work for pay begins.

Employers are not required to photocopy the documents, but they have the right to do so. If they do, they must note the type of documents and any expiration dates on the Form I-9. It is important to note that employers cannot specify which documents they will accept from a worker and should not prevent an individual from working because of a documents future expiration date.