Efforts to crack down on immigration services fraud are expanding beyond the traditional focus on Notarios Publicos to combat scams targeting immigrants from other cultures.
Among the expanding efforts, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has bolstered its online anti-Notario resource, StopNotarioFraud.org, by including Chinese and Polish translations, thereby broadening its audience to more immigrant groups nationwide.
“By expanding the content of StopNotarioFraud.org, AILA is reaching out to a larger number of aspiring citizens who may be in danger of fraud,” said AILAPresident Laura Lichter.
The New York Secretary of State recently issued a rule that requires Notaries who advertise in a foreign language to post a disclaimer stating they are not licensed to practice law or face a fine of up to $1,000 per violation, loss of their commission and other possible sanctions imposed by the Attorney General’s office. The disclaimer must be posted in both English and the language used in their advertising.
Officials with the Secretary of State’s office announced that they will begin canvasing neighborhoods with large immigrant populations in search of Notaries violating the rule, which goes into effect on December 11.
The New York rule applies to any foreign language advertising and provides translations of the disclaimer into several languages, including Chinese, Korean and Haitian Creole.