U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (“ICE”) highly visible enforcement efforts regarding employment eligibility verification over the last several years have successfully injected the terms “I-9 audits,” “Notices of Inspection (NOIs)” “E-Verify” and “IMAGE best practices” into the everyday vocabulary of business owners and their human resources personnel. Two recent press releases describing settlements between well-known […]
OFAC Issues the North Korea Sanctions Regulations
On November 3, 2010, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced that it issued the North Korea Sanctions Regulations (“Final Rule”) to implement Executive Order 13466 of June 26, 2008 (“Executive Order 13466”) and Executive Order 13551 of August 30, 2010 (“Executive Order 13551”) (collectively, the “Executive Orders”). Executive Order 13466, among others, blocks […]
Important Voting Rules for Employers Regarding Your Employees’ Rights
This Tuesday, November 2, is election day across the country. It is important to note that most states have election laws in place to protect an employee’s right to vote without reprimand from their employer. As such, Florida law imposes restrictions and penalties against employers to protect employees’ right to vote. Specifically, it is illegal […]
FinCEN Issues Final Rule to Transfer and Reorganize the Bank Secrecy Act Regulations
This week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a final rule to transfer the current Bank Secrecy Act regulations (“BSA Regulations”) to a new chapter in the Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”) (the “Final Rule”). FinCEN has restructured the BSA Regulations so that they can be readily identified as being specific to a particular […]
FinCEN Proposes New Regulatory Requirement for Financial Institutions
Yesterday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) that would require certain depository institutions and money services businesses (“MSBs”) to affirmatively provide records to FinCEN of certain cross-border electronic transmittals of funds (“CBETF”). FinCEN proposes to define a CBETF as “a transmittal of funds where either the transmittal order or […]
Mortgage Loan Fraud In South Florida
The U.S. Congress’ Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission recently held a Field Hearing in Miami, Florida, to determine the impact of the Financial crisis in South Florida. In the Field Hearing, Statements were made by various experts and law enforcement authorities common mortgage loan fraud schemes currently occurring (as well as new ones that are emerging […]
ICE to Serve More Than 500 Notices of Inspection
Recently, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has confirmed to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that the agency is serving more than 500 additional Notices of Inspection (NOIs) to companies throughout the U.S. According to ICE, the audits are, in large part, a result of leads about employers who allegedly are engaging in hiring […]
USCIS Implements H-1B and L-1 Fee Increase For Certain Petitioners
A recently enacted change to immigration law requires the submission of an additional $2,000 fee for certain H-1B (specialty occupation) petitions and an additional $2,250 fee for certain L (intra-company transferee) petitions filed on or after August 14, 2010. These additional fees apply to petitioners with 50 or more employees in the United States of […]
H-1B Visa Numbers Still Available for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011
According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (“USCIS”) most recent update, provided on June 25, 2010, USCIS has received approximately 23,500 H-1B petitions subject to the 65,000 annual cap. Additionally, USCIS has received approximately 10,000 petitions for foreign workers with advanced degrees, (Master’s degrees or higher) from U.S. institutions, subject to the 20,000 […]
DHS Finalizes I-9 Employment Verification Form Rule Relating to Electronic Storage and Reminds Employers of Importance of I-9 Audits
On July 21, 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it had finalized a regulation that provides greater flexibility for employers to electronically sign and store I-9 forms, which are used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to verify employment. The Final Rule, published in the Federal Register on July 22nd […]
