SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

3743092 - Behaviour of Initiate I-9 Process Button on New Hire Details Page - 1H 2026 Release

Symptom

With the introduction of the feature Initiate the U.S. Form I-9 Correction or Reverification Processes on the New Hire Details Page, two distinct concerns have been reported regarding the behaviour of the Initiate I-9 Process button.

Issue 1 – 'Unable to Initiate I-9 Process' Error

When a candidate is still in I-9 Section 1 (not yet signed/completed) and a responsible user clicks Actions → Initiate I-9 Process and selects Correct Section 1, the following error is displayed: 

Unable to Initiate I-9 Process.

We couldn't start the Correct Section 1 process. The user's legal entity is associated with a non-USA country or the Form I-9 is incomplete for [New Hire Name]. Ensure that any open I-9 processes are closed before starting a new one.

If the issue persists, contact your system administrator.

The same error appears when:

  • After I-9 Section 1 is completed, a user selects Initiate I-9 Process → Correct Section 2.
  • After I-9 Section 1 is completed, a user selects Initiate I-9 Process → Correct Section 1 instead.

Question : 

At which stage in the I-9 compliance process can the Initiate I-9 Process feature be used?

Issue 2 – 'Initiate I-9 Process' Button Visible Before Expected Stage

This concern relates to the changed visibility behavior of the Initiate I-9 Process option in the Actions menu on the New Hire Details page.

Previous behavior (before 1H 2026):

  • The option to Correct Form I-9 data was only visible in the Onboarding Dashboard after I-9 Section 1 was fully completed and signed. 

New behavior (1H 2026):

  • The Initiate I-9 Process option appears in the Actions menu even while I-9 Section 1 is still in progress (not yet submitted/signed).
  • Once Section 1 is completed, the option "Correct Form I-9 Section 1" also appears.

Question:

Can the Initiate I-9 Process button be restricted to appear only after specific I-9 stages, consistent with the previous behavior? 

Environment

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding 1H 2026

Cause

NOTE: This feature does not replace the existing correction mechanism:

The Initiate I-9 Process feature is designed to reduce customer reliance on manual data updates through Manage Data. It is not intended to replace the existing correction workflows, which remain fully functional:

  • Form I-9 in Section 1 Submitted status → Reject the Section 1 signature.
  • Form I-9 in Section 1 Signed status → Use Action Menu → Initiate I-9 Process → Correct Section 1 (roll back).
  • Form I-9 in Section 2 Submitted status → Reject the Section 2 signature.

Resolution

Resolution for Issue 1 – Preconditions for Initiate I-9 Process

The error "Unable to Initiate I-9 Process" appears because the required preconditions for the selected correction type have not been met. The following table defines the exact stage requirements for each process type:

 

Process Type

Required Preconditions

Correct Section 1
  • The new hire's legal entity is associated with the U.S.A.
  • There is no open Section 1, Section 2, or Section 3 – Reverification compliance process.
  • The new hire has completed the Personal Data Collection or Additional Data Collection step.

Correct Section 2
  • The new hire's legal entity is associated with the U.S.A.
  • There is no open Section 1, Section 2, or Section 3 – Reverification compliance process.
  • There is at least one completed and signed Section 1.

Initiate Reverification
  • The new hire's legal entity is associated with the U.S.A.
  • There is no open Section 1, Section 2, or Section 3 – Reverification compliance process.
  • The new hire's Hire Status is Hired.
  • There is a completed and signed Section 2 or Section 3 – Reverification.
  • The new hire's employment eligibility document has an expiration date.

 

Note: The error message stating 'the user's legal entity is associated with a non-USA country' may appear even for U.S.-based employees if the above preconditions are not fully satisfied. Verify each condition in sequence before re-attempting the process.

Resolution for Issue 2 – Visibility of 'Initiate I-9 Process' in Actions Menu

The current design intentionally shows the Initiate I-9 Process option in the Actions menu regardless of the current I-9 stage. This is by design for a specific technical reason:

  • Adding stage-based visibility validation for this button would impact the load time of the New Hire Details page, which is a critical, high-traffic page and must remain fast. 
  • Therefore, no conditional display logic was added at the UI level.

See Also

Keywords

ONB1H2026, PTCH-49342, Compliance,  Initiate I-9 Process, Initiate, Initiate i9 process, Initiate i9, Manage Data, Trigger i-9 flow, Trigger i9, i9, i-9, new hire details, new hire, onboarding dashoard, dashboard, section 1, section 2, initiate reverification, reverification
, KBA , LOD-SF-OBX-I9 , i9 Compliance Form , Bug Filed

Product

SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding all versions