Full Text of SB0233 94th General Assembly
SB0233enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
|
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| AN ACT concerning business.
| 2 |
| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 |
| represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 |
| Section 5. The Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business | 5 |
| Practices Act is amended by changing Section 2AA as follows:
| 6 |
| (815 ILCS 505/2AA)
| 7 |
| Sec. 2AA. Immigration services.
| 8 |
| (a) "Immigration matter" means any proceeding, filing, or | 9 |
| action
affecting the nonimmigrant, immigrant or citizenship | 10 |
| status of any person
that arises under immigration and | 11 |
| naturalization law, executive order or
presidential | 12 |
| proclamation of the United States or any foreign country, or
| 13 |
| that arises under action of the United States Citizenship and | 14 |
| Immigration Services, the United States Department of Labor, or | 15 |
| the
United States Department of State.
| 16 |
| "Immigration assistance service" means any information
or | 17 |
| action provided or offered to customers or prospective | 18 |
| customers related to immigration matters, excluding legal | 19 |
| advice, recommending a specific course of legal action, or | 20 |
| providing any other assistance that requires legal analysis, | 21 |
| legal judgment, or interpretation of the law.
| 22 |
| "Compensation" means money, property, services, promise of | 23 |
| payment,
or anything else of value.
| 24 |
| "Employed by" means that a person is on the payroll of the | 25 |
| employer
and the employer deducts from the employee's paycheck | 26 |
| social security and
withholding taxes, or receives | 27 |
| compensation from the employer on a
commission basis or as an | 28 |
| independent contractor.
| 29 |
| "Reasonable costs" means actual costs or, if actual costs | 30 |
| cannot be
calculated, reasonably estimated costs of such things | 31 |
| as photocopying,
telephone calls, document requests, and | 32 |
| filing fees for immigration forms,
and other nominal costs |
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 2 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| incidental to assistance
in an immigration matter.
| 2 |
| (a-1) The General Assembly finds and declares that private | 3 |
| individuals who
assist persons with immigration matters have a | 4 |
| significant impact on the
ability of their clients to reside | 5 |
| and work within the United States and to
establish and maintain | 6 |
| stable families and business relationships. The General
| 7 |
| Assembly further finds that that assistance and its impact also | 8 |
| have a
significant effect on the cultural, social, and economic | 9 |
| life of the State of
Illinois and thereby substantially affect | 10 |
| the public interest. It is the
intent of the General Assembly | 11 |
| to establish rules of practice and conduct for
those | 12 |
| individuals to promote honesty and fair dealing with residents | 13 |
| and to
preserve public confidence.
| 14 |
| (a-5) The following persons are exempt from this Section, | 15 |
| provided they
prove the exemption by a preponderance of the | 16 |
| evidence:
| 17 |
| (1) An attorney licensed to practice law in any state | 18 |
| or territory of
the United States, or of any foreign | 19 |
| country when authorized by the
Illinois Supreme Court, to | 20 |
| the extent the attorney renders immigration
assistance | 21 |
| service in the course of his or her practice as an | 22 |
| attorney.
| 23 |
| (2) A legal intern, as described by the rules of the | 24 |
| Illinois Supreme
Court, employed by and under the direct | 25 |
| supervision of a licensed attorney
and rendering | 26 |
| immigration assistance service in the course of the | 27 |
| intern's
employment.
| 28 |
| (3) A not-for-profit organization recognized by the | 29 |
| Board of Immigration
Appeals under 8 C.F.R. 292.2(a) and | 30 |
| employees of those organizations accredited
under 8 C.F.R. | 31 |
| 292.2(d).
| 32 |
| (4) Any organization employing or desiring to employ an | 33 |
| alien or
nonimmigrant alien, where the organization, its | 34 |
| employees or its agents
provide advice or assistance in | 35 |
| immigration matters to alien or nonimmigrant
alien | 36 |
| employees or potential employees without compensation from |
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 3 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| the
individuals to whom such advice or assistance is | 2 |
| provided.
| 3 |
| Nothing in this Section shall regulate any business to the | 4 |
| extent
that such regulation is prohibited or preempted by State | 5 |
| or federal law.
| 6 |
| All other persons providing or offering to provide | 7 |
| immigration
assistance service shall be subject to this | 8 |
| Section.
| 9 |
| (b) Any person who provides or offers to provide | 10 |
| immigration assistance
service may perform only the following | 11 |
| services:
| 12 |
| (1) Completing a government agency
form, requested by | 13 |
| the customer and appropriate to the customer's
needs,
only | 14 |
| if the completion of that form does not involve a legal
| 15 |
| judgment
for that particular matter.
| 16 |
| (2) Transcribing responses to a government agency form | 17 |
| which is
related to an immigration matter, but not advising | 18 |
| a customer as to his or
her answers on those forms.
| 19 |
| (3) Translating information on forms to a customer and | 20 |
| translating the
customer's answers to questions posed on | 21 |
| those forms.
| 22 |
| (4) Securing for the customer supporting documents | 23 |
| currently in
existence, such as birth and marriage | 24 |
| certificates, which may be needed to
be submitted with | 25 |
| government agency forms.
| 26 |
| (5) Translating documents from a foreign language into | 27 |
| English.
| 28 |
| (6) Notarizing signatures on government agency forms, | 29 |
| if the person
performing the service is a notary public of | 30 |
| the State of Illinois.
| 31 |
| (7) Making referrals, without fee, to attorneys who | 32 |
| could undertake
legal representation for a person in an | 33 |
| immigration matter.
| 34 |
| (8) Preparing or arranging for the preparation of | 35 |
| photographs and
fingerprints.
| 36 |
| (9) Arranging for the performance of medical testing
|
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 4 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| (including X-rays and AIDS tests) and the obtaining of | 2 |
| reports of such test
results.
| 3 |
| (10) Conducting English language and civics courses.
| 4 |
| (11) Other services that the Attorney General | 5 |
| determines by rule may be
appropriately performed by such | 6 |
| persons in light of the purposes of this
Section.
| 7 |
| Fees for a notary public, agency, or any other person who | 8 |
| is not an attorney or an accredited representative filling out | 9 |
| immigration forms shall be limited to the maximum fees set | 10 |
| forth in subsections (a) and (b) of Section 3-104 of the Notary | 11 |
| Public Act (5 ILCS 312/3-104). The maximum fee schedule set | 12 |
| forth in subsections (a) and (b) of Section 3-104 of the Notary | 13 |
| Public Act shall apply to any person that provides or offers to | 14 |
| provide immigration assistance service performing the services | 15 |
| described therein. The Attorney General may promulgate rules | 16 |
| establishing maximum fees that may be charged for any services | 17 |
| not described in that subsection. The maximum fees must be | 18 |
| reasonable in light of the costs of providing those services | 19 |
| and the degree of professional skill required to provide the | 20 |
| services.
| 21 |
| No person subject to this Act shall charge fees directly or
| 22 |
| indirectly for referring an individual to an attorney or for | 23 |
| any
immigration matter not authorized by this Article, provided | 24 |
| that a person may
charge a fee for notarizing documents as | 25 |
| permitted by the Illinois Notary
Public Act.
| 26 |
| (c) Any person performing such services shall register with | 27 |
| the Illinois
Attorney General and submit verification of | 28 |
| malpractice insurance or of a
surety bond.
| 29 |
| (d) Except as provided otherwise in this subsection, before | 30 |
| providing
any
assistance in an immigration matter a person | 31 |
| shall provide the customer with
a written contract that | 32 |
| includes the following:
| 33 |
| (1) An explanation of the services to be performed.
| 34 |
| (2) Identification of all compensation and costs to be | 35 |
| charged to the
customer for the services to be performed.
| 36 |
| (3) A statement that documents submitted in support of |
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 5 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| an application
for nonimmigrant, immigrant, or | 2 |
| naturalization status may not be retained
by the person for | 3 |
| any purpose, including payment of compensation or costs.
| 4 |
| This subsection does not apply to a not-for-profit | 5 |
| organization that
provides advice or assistance in immigration | 6 |
| matters to clients without charge
beyond a reasonable fee to | 7 |
| reimburse the organization's or clinic's reasonable
costs | 8 |
| relating to providing immigration services to that client.
| 9 |
| (e) Any person who provides or offers immigration | 10 |
| assistance service and
is not exempted from this Section, shall | 11 |
| post signs at his or her place of
business, setting forth | 12 |
| information in English and in every other language in
which the
| 13 |
| person provides or offers to provide immigration assistance | 14 |
| service. Each
language shall be on a separate sign. Signs shall | 15 |
| be posted in a location
where the signs will be visible to | 16 |
| customers. Each sign shall be at least
11 inches by 17 inches, | 17 |
| and shall contain the following:
| 18 |
| (1) The statement "I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY LICENSED TO | 19 |
| PRACTICE LAW AND
MAY NOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE OR ACCEPT FEES | 20 |
| FOR LEGAL ADVICE."
| 21 |
| (2) The statement "I AM NOT ACCREDITED TO REPRESENT YOU | 22 |
| BEFORE THE
UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION | 23 |
| SERVICE AND THE IMMIGRATION
BOARD OF APPEALS."
| 24 |
| (3) The fee schedule.
| 25 |
| (4) The statement that "You may cancel any contract
| 26 |
| within 3 working days and get your money back for services | 27 |
| not performed."
| 28 |
| (5) Additional information the Attorney General may | 29 |
| require by rule.
| 30 |
| Every person engaged in immigration assistance service who | 31 |
| is not an
attorney who advertises immigration assistance | 32 |
| service in a language other
than English, whether by radio, | 33 |
| television, signs, pamphlets, newspapers,
or other written | 34 |
| communication, with the exception of a single desk plaque,
| 35 |
| shall include in the document, advertisement, stationery, | 36 |
| letterhead, business card, or other comparable written |
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 6 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| material the following notice in English and the language in | 2 |
| which the written communication appears. This notice shall be
| 3 |
| of a conspicuous size, if in writing, and shall state: "I AM | 4 |
| NOT AN
ATTORNEY LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN ILLINOIS AND MAY | 5 |
| NOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE OR ACCEPT
FEES FOR LEGAL ADVICE." If such | 6 |
| advertisement is by radio or television,
the statement may be | 7 |
| modified but must include substantially the same message.
| 8 |
| Any person who provides or offers immigration assistance | 9 |
| service and is not exempted from this Section shall not, in any | 10 |
| document, advertisement, stationery, letterhead, business | 11 |
| card, or other comparable written material, literally | 12 |
| translate from English into another language terms or titles | 13 |
| including, but not limited to, notary public, notary, licensed, | 14 |
| attorney, lawyer, or any other term that implies the person is | 15 |
| an attorney. To illustrate, the words
word "notario" and "poder | 16 |
| notarial" are
is prohibited under this provision.
| 17 |
| If not subject to penalties under subsection (a) of Section | 18 |
| 3-103 of the Notary Public Act (5 ILCS 312/3-103), violations | 19 |
| of this subsection shall result in a fine of $1,000. Violations | 20 |
| shall not preempt or preclude additional appropriate civil or | 21 |
| criminal penalties.
| 22 |
| (f) The written contract shall be in both English and in | 23 |
| the language
of the customer.
| 24 |
| (g) A copy of the contract shall be provided to the | 25 |
| customer upon the
customer's execution of the contract.
| 26 |
| (h) A customer has the right to rescind a contract within | 27 |
| 72 hours after
his or her signing of the contract.
| 28 |
| (i) Any documents identified in paragraph (3) of subsection | 29 |
| (c) shall be
returned upon demand of the customer.
| 30 |
| (j) No person engaged in providing immigration services who | 31 |
| is not exempted under this Section shall do any
of the | 32 |
| following:
| 33 |
| (1) Make any statement that the person can or will | 34 |
| obtain special favors
from or has special influence with | 35 |
| the United States Immigration and
Naturalization Service | 36 |
| or any other government agency.
|
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 7 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| (2) Retain any compensation for service not performed.
| 2 |
| (2.5) Accept payment in exchange for providing legal | 3 |
| advice or any other assistance that requires legal | 4 |
| analysis, legal judgment, or interpretation of the law.
| 5 |
| (3) Refuse to return documents supplied by, prepared on | 6 |
| behalf of, or paid
for by the customer upon the request of | 7 |
| the customer. These documents must be
returned upon request | 8 |
| even if there is a fee dispute between the immigration
| 9 |
| assistant and the customer.
| 10 |
| (4) Represent or advertise, in connection with the | 11 |
| provision assistance
in immigration matters, other titles | 12 |
| of credentials, including but not
limited to "notary | 13 |
| public" or "immigration consultant," that could cause a
| 14 |
| customer to believe that the person possesses special | 15 |
| professional skills or
is authorized to provide advice on | 16 |
| an immigration matter; provided that a
notary public | 17 |
| appointed by the Illinois Secretary of State may use the | 18 |
| term
"notary public" if the use is accompanied by the | 19 |
| statement that the person
is not an attorney; the term | 20 |
| "notary public" may not be translated to another language; | 21 |
| for example "notario" is prohibited.
| 22 |
| (5) Provide legal advice, recommend a specific course | 23 |
| of legal action, or provide any other assistance that | 24 |
| requires legal analysis, legal judgment, or interpretation | 25 |
| of the law.
| 26 |
| (6) Make any misrepresentation of false statement, | 27 |
| directly or
indirectly, to influence, persuade, or induce | 28 |
| patronage.
| 29 |
| (k) (Blank)
| 30 |
| (l) (Blank)
| 31 |
| (m) Any person who violates any provision
of this Section, | 32 |
| or the rules and regulations issued
under this Section, shall | 33 |
| be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for a first
offense and a | 34 |
| Class 3 felony for a second or subsequent offense committed
| 35 |
| within 5 years of a previous conviction for the same offense.
| 36 |
| Upon his own information or upon the complaint of any |
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 8 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| person, the
Attorney General or any State's Attorney, or a | 2 |
| municipality with a
population of more than 1,000,000, may | 3 |
| maintain an action for injunctive
relief and also seek a civil | 4 |
| penalty not exceeding $50,000 in the circuit court
against any | 5 |
| person who violates any provision of
this Section. These | 6 |
| remedies are in addition to, and not in substitution
for, other | 7 |
| available remedies.
| 8 |
| If the Attorney General or any State's Attorney or a | 9 |
| municipality
with a population of more than 1,000,000 fails to | 10 |
| bring an action as
provided under this Section any person may | 11 |
| file a civil action to
enforce the provisions of this Article | 12 |
| and maintain an action for
injunctive relief, for compensatory | 13 |
| damages to recover prohibited fees, or for such additional | 14 |
| relief as may be appropriate to
deter, prevent, or compensate | 15 |
| for the violation.
In order to deter violations of this | 16 |
| Section, courts shall not require a
showing of the traditional | 17 |
| elements for equitable relief. A prevailing
plaintiff may be | 18 |
| awarded 3 times the prohibited fees or a minimum of $1,000 in
| 19 |
| punitive damages, attorney's fees, and costs of
bringing an | 20 |
| action under this Section.
It is the express intention
of the | 21 |
| General Assembly that remedies for violation of this Section be
| 22 |
| cumulative.
| 23 |
| (n) No unit of local government, including any home rule | 24 |
| unit, shall have
the authority to regulate immigration | 25 |
| assistance services unless such
regulations are at least as | 26 |
| stringent as those contained in this amendatory
Act of 1992. It | 27 |
| is declared to be the law of this State, pursuant to
paragraph | 28 |
| (i) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution of
| 29 |
| 1970, that this amendatory Act of 1992 is a limitation on the | 30 |
| authority of a
home rule unit to exercise powers concurrently | 31 |
| with the State. The
limitations of this Section do not apply to | 32 |
| a home rule unit that has,
prior to the effective date of this | 33 |
| amendatory Act, adopted an ordinance
regulating immigration | 34 |
| assistance services.
| 35 |
| (o) This Section is severable under Section 1.31 of the | 36 |
| Statute on Statutes.
|
|
|
|
SB0233 Enrolled |
- 9 - |
LRB094 05072 RXD 36490 b |
|
| 1 |
| (p) The Attorney General shall issue rules not inconsistent | 2 |
| with this
Section for the implementation, administration, and | 3 |
| enforcement of this
Section by January 1, 1995 . The rules may | 4 |
| provide for the following:
| 5 |
| (1) The content, print size, and print style of the | 6 |
| signs required under
subsection (e). Print sizes and styles | 7 |
| may vary from language to language.
| 8 |
| (2) Standard forms for use in the administration of | 9 |
| this Section.
| 10 |
| (3) Any additional requirements deemed necessary.
| 11 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-1001, eff. 8-23-04.)
| 12 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 13 |
| becoming law.
|
|