I-9 civil penalties are assessed per form, not per company — which is why a high-turnover employer with a routine 30% error rate can face six-figure exposure from paperwork violations alone, before a knowing-hire allegation is ever raised. Use the sliders below to model your situation.
2026 penalty range: paperwork and substantive I-9 violations run $288–$2,861 per form. The government froze civil penalty levels at the 2025 amounts for 2026 (OMB cancelled the scheduled inflation adjustment), but enforcement posture is unchanged. A March 2026 ICE fact-sheet update also reclassified several formerly “technical” errors as substantive — so more of what used to be a free correction now carries a per-form fine.
Typical error rates by industry: hospitality & construction 35–55%, healthcare 20–35%, tech 10–20%. High-turnover binders skew higher. Default (30%) is a conservative industry midpoint — adjust to your file.
Each expiration that slips past without a completed Supplement B reverification is a separate substantive violation — assessed alongside, not inside, the paperwork count above.
Estimated fine exposure — paperwork & substantive violations (2026)
$4,320 – $42,915
~15 of your 50 forms likely carry a substantive error. At 2026 rates that's $4,320–$42,915 in exposure before you fix anything.
$28,619 ceiling (context only): This calculator covers paperwork and substantive I-9 violations only. The separate knowing-hire schedule runs up to ~$28,619 per unauthorized worker for repeat offenders — a different statutory category that depends on employer knowledge and history, not captured in the slider math.
Informational estimate only — not legal advice. Actual penalty assessments depend on ICE/DOJ discretion, good-faith factors, business size, violation history, and per-case adjustment. FreshVerdict is a software tool, not a law firm.
Full-file audit: $149 (≤25 employees) · $349 (≤100 employees) · $29/mo reverification monitoring.
How the calculator works
The math applies the published 2026 civil penalty schedule to your inputs: (employees × error rate) = fineable forms; fineable forms × $288 = low-end exposure; fineable forms × $2,861 = high-end exposure. These are the same figures used in FreshVerdict's audit engine, sourced from the USCIS civil penalty schedule kept at 2025 levels for 2026. The calculator assumes one substantive violation per flagged form; an actual inspection may find multiple errors per form, which would increase the count.
The reverification risk count is separate from the paperwork math: each employee whose time-limited work authorization expires without a completed Supplement B reverification is an additional substantive violation, assessed alongside the paperwork count but not folded into it.
The $28,619 knowing-hire ceiling is noted for context only. Knowing-hire violations are assessed per unauthorized worker under an entirely separate statutory framework and depend on employer knowledge, intent, and prior history — facts a slider cannot capture. If knowing-hire exposure is a concern, that is a reason to involve an immigration attorney early.
Know your real exposure — not an estimate.
FreshVerdict scans your actual Form I-9s, applies the deterministic 2026 rule set to every field on every form, and shows you exactly which forms carry substantive violations — and the USCIS-correct fix for each. Start with a free audit of a single form.
Run a free single-form I-9 audit →2026 I-9 penalty calculator FAQ
How much is an I-9 violation in 2026?
For 2026, the government kept civil penalty levels at the 2025 amounts (OMB cancelled the scheduled 2026 inflation adjustment). Form I-9 paperwork and substantive violations run about $288 to $2,861 per form. Knowingly hiring or continuing to employ an unauthorized worker runs far higher — up to roughly $28,619 per worker for repeat offenders. Because paperwork penalties are assessed per form, a few hundred flawed I-9s can add up to six figures.
What's the fine for a missing or incomplete I-9?
A missing or incomplete I-9 is a substantive violation subject to the per-form penalty range of $288–$2,861 (2026 schedule). ICE assesses the amount within that range based on five statutory factors: the base error rate across your full I-9 inventory, business size, good faith, seriousness, and prior violation history. A documented self-audit and a lawful remediation trail are the two biggest levers within your control before an inspection.
Do technical errors still get a 10-day cure period in 2026?
Yes — but fewer errors still qualify as technical. In a March 2026 fact-sheet update, ICE reclassified several previously-correctable technical violations as substantive violations subject to fines from the outset. These include a missing employee date in Section 1, and a missing employer name, title, hire date, or date in Section 2. Errors that remain genuinely technical still get at least 10 business days to cure during an inspection; uncorrected technical violations then become substantive and fineable. There is no automatic 10-day cure period for substantive errors.
Is this I-9 penalty calculator accurate?
The calculator produces an informational estimate using the 2026 published per-form penalty range ($288–$2,861 per substantive violation). The actual penalty ICE assesses for any given inspection depends on factors outside the calculator's scope — including the specific errors found, good-faith evidence, business size, and prior history. Use this tool to understand your order-of-magnitude exposure; for a binding assessment or a complex situation, consult an immigration attorney.
Related: I-9 civil penalties 2026 (the full penalty breakdown and mitigation levers) · I-9 self-audit checklist 2026 (how to fix each error type) · ICE Notice of Inspection checklist (what to do the moment ICE serves an NOI) · I-9 reverification guide 2026.
FreshVerdict is an I-9 compliance tool — not attorneys, and this is general information, not legal advice. Penalty figures reflect the 2026 civil schedule. Actual assessments depend on ICE/DOJ discretion and per-case factors; for complex situations or potential knowing-hire exposure, consult an immigration attorney.