I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5035

To reduce fraud in connection with the provision of legal advice and other

services to individuals applying for immigration benefits or otherwise

involved in immigration proceedings by requiring paid immigration consultants to be licensed and otherwise provide services in a satisfactory

manner.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 27, 2000

Mr. GUTIERREZ (for himself, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. PASTOR, and Mr. GONZALEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on the Judiciary

A BILL

To reduce fraud in connection with the provision of legal

advice and other services to individuals applying for immigration benefits or otherwise involved in immigration

proceedings by requiring paid immigration consultants

to be licensed and otherwise provide services in a satisfactory manner.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Immigration Services Consumer Protection Act of

4 2000’’.

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Definitions.

Sec. 3. Criminal penalty for immigration consultants not meeting requirements.

Sec. 4. Exception for attorneys, representatives of recognized organizations,

and others; recognition and accreditation of representatives.

Sec. 5. Education through community outreach programs.

Sec. 6. Non-preemption of more protective State laws.

Sec. 7. Confidentiality of information.

Sec. 8. Effective date.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 For purposes of this Act:

9 (1) ATTORNEY.—The term ‘‘attorney’’ means a

10 person licensed and authorized to practice law in the

11 area in which the person is acting as an immigration

12 consultant.

13 (2) COMPENSATION.—The term ‘‘compensa14 tion’’ means money, property, promise of payment,

15 or anything of value, provided directly or indirectly.

16 (3) IMMIGRATION CONSULTANT.—The term

17 ‘‘immigration consultant’’ means any person that

18 provides assistance or advice on an immigration

19 matter, including—

20 (A) completing a form provided by a Fed21 eral or State agency;
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1 (B) translating a person’s answer to ques2 tions asked on such a form;

3 (C) securing for a person supporting docu4 ments (such as birth and marriage certificates)

5 which may be necessary to complete those

6 forms;

7 (D) submitting completed forms, on a cli8 ent’s behalf and at the client’s request, to the

9 Immigration and Naturalization Service;

10 (E) making referrals to attorneys to rep11 resent the client in the matter; or

12 (F) preparing or arranging for the prepa13 ration of photograph or fingerprint in connec14 tion with the matter.

15 (4) IMMIGRATION MATTER.—the term ‘‘immi16 gration matter’’ means any proceeding, filing, or ac17 tion affecting the immigration or citizenship status

18 of any person which arises under any immigration or

19 naturalization law, Executive order, or Presidential

20 proclamation, or action of the Immigration and Nat21 uralization Service, the Department of State, or the

22 Department of Labor.
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1 SEC. 3. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR IMMIGRATION CONSULT2 ANTS NOT MEETING REQUIREMENTS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in section 4,

4 any person who acts as an immigration consultant with

5 respect to an immigration matter for any client for com6 pensation and who knowingly fails to meet a requirement

7 of subsection (b) shall be fined under title 18, United

8 States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

9 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of this sub10 section for a person acting as an immigration consultant

11 in an immigration matter for a client are as follows:

12 (1) CONSULTANT LICENSE REQUIRED.—The

13 person shall have a license as an immigration con14 sultant issued by the Immigration and Naturaliza15 tion Service after the person has made an applica16 tion that meets such requirements as the Attorney

17 General may impose.

18 (2) WRITTEN CONTRACT.—The person shall not

19 act as an immigration consultant in the immigration

20 matter on behalf of the client unless the person has

21 entered into a written agreement with the client that

22 meets the following requirements:

23 (A) The agreement includes a description

24 of—

25 (i) the services to be performed by the

26 person under the agreement, and
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1 (ii) the amounts to be paid by the cli2 ent.

3 (B) The agreement includes a statement,

4 printed on the face of the contract in boldface

5 type no smaller than 10 point, that the person

6 is not an attorney and may not perform legal

7 services.

8 (C) The agreement includes a conspicuous

9 statement (in both English and the other prin10 cipal language of the client, if it is not English)

11 that the client has the right to rescind the

12 agreement within 72 hours of the time it is exe13 cuted.

14 (D) The agreement shall not include—

15 (i) any guarantee or promise with re16 spect to the disposition of the Immigration

17 and Naturalization Service and the Attor18 ney General on the matter; or

19 (ii) any statement that the person can

20 or will obtain special favors from or has

21 special influence with the Service or the

22 Attorney General on the matter.

23 (3) OFFICE NOTICE.—The person shall con24 spicuously display in any office in which the person

25 meets with clients a notice, not smaller than 12
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1 inches by 20 inches and in boldface print no smaller

2 one inch in height, that includes the following infor3 mation:

4 (A) A copy of the license issued under

5 paragraph (1), including the full name, address,

6 and license number of the person.

7 (B) A statement that the person is not an

8 attorney.

9 (4) NOTICE OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—The

10 person shall notify the Immigration and Naturaliza11 tion Service within 30 days of any change of name,

12 address, or telephone number.

13 (5) DELIVERY OF DOCUMENTS.—The person

14 shall deliver to the client a copy of each document

15 or form completed on the client’s behalf.

16 (6) RETURNING DOCUMENTS TO CLIENT.—The

17 person shall, upon request of the client, return to

18 the client any original documents of the client in the

19 possession of the person that were delivered to the

20 person in order to provide services for the client.
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1 SEC. 4. EXCEPTION FOR ATTORNEYS, REPRESENTATIVES

2 OF RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATIONS, AND OTH3 ERS; RECOGNITION AND ACCREDITATION OF

4 REPRESENTATIVES.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3(a) shall not apply to the

6 following:

7 (1) ATTORNEYS.—An attorney.

8 (2) LAW STUDENTS AND LAW GRADUATES NOT

9 YET ADMITTED TO THE BAR.—A law student who is

10 enrolled in an accredited law school, or a law grad11 uate who is not yet admitted to the bar, where the

12 following conditions are satisfied:

13 (A) REQUEST.—The student or graduate

14 is appearing at the request of the person enti15 tled to representation.

16 (B) STATEMENT OF LAW STUDENT.—In

17 the case of a law student, the student has filed

18 a statement that the student is participating,

19 under the direct supervision of a faculty mem20 ber or an attorney, in a legal aid program or

21 clinic conducted by a law school or non-profit

22 organization, and that the student is appearing

23 without direct or indirect remuneration from

24 person represented.

25 (C) STATEMENT OF LAW GRADUATE.—In

26 the case of a law graduate, the graduate has
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1 filed a statement that the graduate is appearing

2 under the supervision of a licensed attorney or

3 accredited representative and that the graduate

4 is appearing without direct or indirect remu5 neration from the person represented.

6 (D) OFFICIAL PERMISSION.—The law stu7 dent’s or law graduate’s appearance is per8 mitted by the official or officials before whom

9 the student or graduate wishes to appear. The

10 official or officials may require that a law stu11 dent be accompanied by the supervising faculty

12 member or attorney.

13 (3) ACCREDITED REPRESENTATIVES OF RECOG14 NIZED ORGANIZATIONS.—An individual who is an

15 accredited representative of an organization that is

16 recognized under subsection (b).

17 (4) ACCREDITED OFFICIALS.—An accredited of18 ficial, in the United States, of the government to

19 which an alien owes allegiance, if the official appears

20 solely in an official capacity and with the alien’s con21 sent.

22 (5) GRANDFATHER.—A person, other than a

23 representative of an organization described in sub24 section (b), who on December 23, 1952, was author25 ized to practice before the Board of Immigration Ap-
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1 peals and the Immigration and Naturalization Serv2 ice.

3 (b) RECOGNITION OF QUALIFIED ORGANIZATIONS;

4 ACCREDITATION OF REPRESENTATIVES.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

6 establish a process—

7 (A) for the recognition of nonprofit reli8 gious, charitable, social service, or similar orga9 nization established in the United States; and

10 (B) for the accreditation of representatives

11 of a recognized organization to provide immi12 gration services, including practicing before the

13 Immigration and Naturalization Service and the

14 Board of Immigration Appeals, on behalf of the

15 organization.

16 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—

17 (A) RECOGNITION.—An organization shall

18 not be recognized under paragraph (1)(A) un19 less the organization establishes to the satisfac20 tion of the Attorney General that it has at its

21 disposal adequate knowledge, information and

22 experience.

23 (B) ACCREDITATION OF REPRESENTA24 TIVES.—A representative may not be accredited
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1 under paragraph (1)(B) unless the

2 representative—

3 (i) is of good moral character; and

4 (ii) has sufficient experience and

5 knowledge of immigration and naturaliza6 tion law and procedure to adequately rep7 resent clients of the organization in immi8 gration matters.

9 (3) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Attorney

10 General shall establish an application process for the

11 recognition of organizations and accreditation of rep12 resentatives of such organizations under this sub13 section. As a condition for continuing the recognition

14 of an organization or accreditation of a representa15 tive, the Attorney General may require the periodic

16 submission of such application or information as the

17 Attorney General may specify.

18 (4) WITHDRAWAL OF RECOGNITION OR AC19 CREDITATION.—The Attorney General may with20 draw recognition of any organization or accreditation

21 of a representative if the organization or representa22 tive has failed to maintain the qualifications to be so

23 recognized or accredited, under a process specified

24 by the Attorney General.
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1 (5) USE OF CURRENT STANDARDS.—To the ex2 tent practicable, the Attorney General shall carry

3 out this subsection in a manner consistent with the

4 recognition and accreditation process provided by

5 the Board of Immigration Appeals under section

6 292.2 of title 8, Code of Federal Regulations, as in

7 effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act.

8 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in section 3 shall be

9 construed as applying to a person who does not receive

10 direct or indirect compensation for provision of services.

11 SEC. 5. EDUCATION THROUGH COMMUNITY OUTREACH

12 PROGRAMS.

13 The Attorney General is authorized to provide grants

14 to States in order to provide community outreach pro15 grams through State and local government agencies to

16 educate individuals who use immigration consultants re17 garding the requirements of this Act.

18 SEC. 6. NON-PREEMPTION OF MORE PROTECTIVE STATE

19 LAWS.

20 The provisions of this Act supersede State laws only

21 to the extent the State laws prevent the application of sec22 tion 3. States may impose requirements that are in addi23 tion to the requirements established under this Act.
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1 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this section,

3 neither the Attorney General, nor any other official or em4 ployee of the Department of Justice, or bureau or agency

5 thereof, may use the information furnished by any person

6 (including an alien who is not lawfully present in the

7 United States) specifically in relation to a violation of this

8 Act for any purpose other than to carry out this Act (in9 cluding prosecutions under section 3). If such information

10 is furnished by an alien who is not lawfully present in the

11 United States, such information shall not be used for the

12 purpose of identifying and removing the person from the

13 United States or imposing other sanctions against the per14 son, except if the information furnished is false or fraudu15 lent.

16 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be

17 construed to limit the use, or release, for immigration en18 forcement purposes or law enforcement purposes of infor19 mation contained in files or records of the Immigration

20 and Naturalization Service, other than information fur21 nished under subsection (a) that is not available from any

22 other source.

23 (c) CRIME.—Whoever knowingly uses information in

24 violation of this section shall be fined not more than

25 $10,000.
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1 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This Act applies to actions taken as an immigration

3 consultant on and after such date (not later than 2 years

4 after the date of the enactment of this Act) as the Attor5 ney General shall specify in regulations.

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