No—you are not federally required to notify your employer immediately just because you received your green card; you may wait until the controlling reverification date on your existing I-9, but not beyond it even if HR forgets to ask.
“I am currently working on an H-1B valid for a couple more years, and I recently got my green card through marriage. Am I legally required to notify my employer immediately to update my I-9, or can I wait until my current H-1B expires and HR asks for reverification?”
Summary
This is manageable: the federal I-9 rule gives you a clear deadline rather than a same-day reporting requirement. Calendar that date and keep one acceptable document ready.
Federal I-9 rules leave you two workable timing choices; neither requires a same-day update merely because you received permanent residence.
You may wait until the earlier controlling date on your existing I-9. By that date, HR must complete , and you present one acceptable document of your choice (8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(vii); Form I-9 Instructions, p. 5).
You may voluntarily tell HR now to prevent a last-minute paperwork rush, but the federal I-9 rules do not make your change from H-1B to permanent residence an immediate update trigger. If HR asks for new proof, it must let you choose acceptable documentation rather than insist on the green card (DOJ IER Employer Fact Sheet, p. 3).
Whichever route you take, do not let the controlling date on the existing I-9 pass without reverification.
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Watch out for
Next steps
These steps prevent an unnecessary immediate update while ensuring that your employer completes reverification on time.
Now
Calendar the controlling I-9 date
Use the earlier of the employment-authorization expiration in Section 1, if any, and the List A or List C work-authorization-document expiration recorded in Section 2. That—not simply whichever H-1B date you remember—is the latest date by which HR must complete reverification.
Requirements
Optional
Choose whether to give HR advance notice
You may tell HR now that you became a permanent resident, but federal Form I-9 rules do not require an immediate update solely for that status change. If you prefer to wait, contact HR before the controlling date if it has not contacted you; do not let that date pass.
No later than the controlling date
Present one document of your choice
Give HR your chosen proof of continuing work authorization; HR completes . You do not have to present the green card specifically or reuse the type of document shown on your original I-9.
Requirements
If your physical card is unavailable
Track temporary proof separately
A must be reverified when its temporary validity ends. By contrast, if you present the physical Permanent Resident Card, HR must not schedule another I-9 reverification merely because that card later expires.
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer is based on 8 CFR 274a.2, the current USCIS Form I-9 Instructions and Handbook M-274, USCIS Supplement B guidance, and DOJ’s Immigrant and Employee Rights guidance.
8 CFR 274a.2(b)(1)(vii)
The regulation makes expiration—not merely a change of immigration category—the reverification trigger and sets the outside deadline.
(b)(1)(vii)
If an individual's employment authorization expires, the employer, recruiter or referrer for a fee must reverify on the Form I-9 to reflect that the individual is still authorized to work in the United States; otherwise, the individual may no longer be employed, recruited, or referred. Reverification on the Form I-9 must occur not later than the date work authorization expires and must comply with the applicable document presentation and examination procedures in paragraphs (b)(1)(ii)(A) and (b)(1)(ix) of this section, and form instructions.
Form I-9 Instructions
The form instructions identify the controlling date and preserve your choice of work-authorization document.
page 5, “Reverifications”
When reverification is required, you must reverify the employee by the earlier of the employment authorization expiration date stated in Section 1 (if any), or the expiration date of the List A or List C employment authorization documentation recorded in Section 2. For reverification, employees must present acceptable documentation from either List A or List C showing their continuing authorization to work in the United States. You must allow employees to choose which acceptable documentation to present for reverification. Employees are not required to show the same type of document they presented previously.
USCIS Handbook M-274 §6.0
A physical green card’s expiration does not create a future I-9 reverification requirement.
§6.0
Reverification is also never required when the following documents expire: U.S. passports, U.S. passport cards, Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards), and List B documents.
USCIS I-9 Central, Supplement B
The no-reverification rule for a presented Permanent Resident Card expressly includes conditional residents.
“Employers should not reverify”
Employers should not reverify: Lawful permanent residents who presented a Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card or Alien Registration Receipt Card for Section 2, including conditional residents;
USCIS Handbook M-274 §7.1
Temporary I-551 evidence is the exception: it must be reverified when its temporary validity ends.
§7.1
If an LPR or conditional resident presents one of the temporary Forms I-551 listed below, you must reverify their employment authorization using Supplement B, Reverification and Rehire: The employee must present their Form I-551 to you no later than when the stamp expires, or one year after U.S. Customs and Border Protection issues the Form I-94 if the stamp does not contain an expiration date.
DOJ IER Employer Fact Sheet
DOJ confirms your document choice and warns employers against unnecessary status-based demands.
page 3
Follow the Form I-9 instructions for reverification. Asking employees for unnecessary documents based on the employee’s citizenship, immigration status, or national origin, could be unlawful. Employees can present any valid List A document or List C document for reverification.
These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; rules can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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