FAQs in Governmental Affairs

A single email address or distribution list to email all legislators directly is not provided. However, you may send an email message which may be read by all Legislators. For more, go to Information for Sending E-mail to All Legislators page.

To find the email address of a legislative employee (or even a legislator) you can use the Legislative Staff Email Search.

The North Carolina General Assembly consists of two Houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 50 State Senate districts represented by 50 Senators and 120 State House districts represented by 120 Representatives.

To find out who represents you, check out the Who Represents Me? page of our site and choose your county or district.

To find out which House and Senate district you live in use the Zip Code Look-Up function on the Representation section of our website.

To find information about a specific Senator or Representative, click on the appropriate member's name in either the House or Senate member lists.

More member information may be found on the following pages:

Committee schedules are posted at the bottom of the daily House and Senate calendars. You can subscribe to the NCGA List Server to receive calendars via e-mail.

The General Assembly meets in accordance with rules set forth in both the North Carolina General Statues and the State Constitution:

NC General Statute:
§ 120-11.1. Time of meeting.
The regular session of the Senate and House of Representatives shall be held biennially beginning at 12:00 noon on the third Wednesday after the second Monday in January next after their election. (1967, c. 1181; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1066, s. 21.)

Article 2 of the North Carolina Constitution:
Sec. 11. Sessions.

How often is the information updated?
Information on the NCGA website is updated daily. Following is a breakdown of when certain portions of the site are updated:

Note: The questions and the answers that follow are not meant to be specific legal advice to anyone, and are for general information purposes only. Every situation is different, and the reader should consult with a qualified immigration attorney prior to making decisions in any given case.

An alien is a person who is NOT a US citizen. An immigrant is one name that we give alien who is here permanently. They also can be called legal permanent residents. A nonimmigrant is an alien who is here temporarily.

An immigrant is here as a permanent resident, so he or she would have a green card. He or she also could have an I-551 stamp in his or her passport, or a stamp that indicates the person has permanent resident status.

An alien who is not a permanent resident can have various types of documentation, depending on his or her particular status. He might have a visa that has not expired, but many foreign nationals change their status by filing with BCIS (formerly INS) for permission to remain and change to a status that is different from the status with which the foreign national entered the US. In that case, he might have an expired visa but a valid Approval Notice issued by BCIS, approving the change of status.

An employer has the duty to make a good faith effort to determine if a prospective employee has valid work authorization. However, the employee has the right to decide what document(s) he will show the employer to prove the applicant’s identity and his right to work. The back of the I-9 form provides three lists (A, B and C) of documents that are permissible ways to prove these two points. To satisfy I-9 requirements, the employee must show the employer either one document from List A, or one document from both List B and List C.

BCIS has issued an Employer Handbook that provides copies of many types of such documents, and it is probably the best source to compare the documents that a prospective employee shows the employer with documents that are valid.

Remember, the law does not require an employer to be certain of the applicant’s work authorization; it just requires the employer to make a good faith effort to determine the applicant’s work authorization.

The supplier either needs to obtain a B-1 visa (for business visitors) from a US Consulate, or be a national of a country with which the US has a “visa waiver” agreement (that allows nationals of that country to enter the US for 90 days by showing a valid passport).

In either situation, it also is a good idea to provide the supplier with a formal letter of invitation that outlines the reasons for the visit, the length of time the supplier will be here, etc.

It depends on the facts. You have two potential areas of responsibility: the duty to have proper I-9 records, and the duty not to employ someone who lacks work authorization. Both of those duties include the duty to make a good faith effort to determine work authorization, the duty to keep proper records, and the duty to update those records when appropriate.

In the majority of cases, an employer who knows that an employee lacks valid work authorization may not continue employing him or her. However, the best strategy to follow in a given situation depends on the reason that the person is “illegal”. That term can involve a person who has stayed too long, a person who entered the US without being inspected, a person who has failed to follow all the rules regarding his or her status, etc. Each situation may involve a different strategy.

In addition, you should have your HR manager or person with HR responsibilities attend seminars on a regular basis, since those HR seminars will include immigration issues as part of the presentation.

Organizations such as Lutheran Family Services or Casa Guadalupe can help with very limited issues involving asylum, TPS (Temporary Protected Status) and the like. However, more involved or complex questions will require the assistance of an immigration attorney. You may contact the North Carolina State Bar (919.828.4620) for a referral, and ask for the Bar’s list of certified immigration law specialists. Immigration law is a very complex area of law

Your corporate counsel may handle some immigration issues, or there may be another attorney in that firm who does. If no one in the firm handles immigration issues, ask your business lawyer for a referral.

An employer should provide foreign nationals with the same working conditions as it provides other workers. The foreign national may have a limited period of time to work (e.g. if he has a temporary visa) and for that reason, the employer would not be able to keep the employee beyond that time, unless BCIS grants the employer/ee the right to stay on.

The employee has the right to decide what document(s) he will show the employer to prove the applicant’s identity and his right to work. The back of the I-9 form provides three lists (A, B and C) of documents that are permissible ways to prove these two points. To satisfy I-9 requirements, the employee must show the employer either one document from List A, or one document from both List B and List C.

Other than organizations such as Lutheran Family Services and Casa Guadalupe, there are a number of private attorneys who handle immigration matters exclusively. Most are listed in the Yellow Pages, and some of them are Board Certified Immigration Law Specialists.

There are several websites that offer this kind of information. Two of them are:
     American Immigration Lawyers Association - www.aila.org
     American Immigration Law Foundation - www.ailf.org

The Chamber would like to thank Gerry Chapman of Chapman Law Firm in Greensboro for his assistance in providing the above information.

Mr. Chapman is a Board Certified Immigration Law Specialist. He can be reached by phone at 334-0034, by fax at 334-0036, or by email at gmcimm@aol.com.

List A- Documents that establish both identify and employment eligibility	OR	List B- Documents that Establish Identity Only	AND	List C- Documents that Establish Employment Only
U.S. Passport (Expired or Unexpired)		Driver's license or ID card issued by a state or outlying possession of the US provided it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, sex, height, eye color, and address.		US Social Security card issued by the Social Security Administration (other than a card stating it is not valid for employment)
Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (INS Form N-560 or N-570)		ID card issued by federal, state, or local government agencies or entities provided it contains a photograph or information such as name, date of birth, sex, height, eye color, and address.		Certification of Birth Abroad issued by the Department of State (Form FS-545 or Form DS-1350)
Certificate of Naturalization (INS Form N-550 or N-570)		School ID card with a photograph		Original or certified copy of birth certificate issued by a state, county, municipal authority or outlying possession of the United States bearing an official seal.
Un-expired foreign passport, with I-551 stamp or attached INS Form I-94 indicating Un-expired employment authorization.		Voter's registration card		Native American tribal document
Alien Registration Receipt Card with photograph (INS Form I-151 or I-551)		US Military Card or draft record		US Citizen ID Card (INS Form I-197)
Un-expired Temporary Resident Card (INS Form- I688)		Military Dependent's ID Card		ID Card for use of Resident Citizen in the United States (INS Form I-179)
Un-expired Employment Authorization Card (INS Form I-327)		US Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Card		Un-expired employment authorization document issued by the INS (other than those listed under List A)
Un-expired Reentry Permit (INS Form I-327)		Native American tribal document
Un-expired Refugee Travel Document (INS Form I-571)		For Persons under age 18 who are unable to present a document listed above: School Record or Report Card Clinic, doctor, or hospital record Day-Care or nursery school record
Un-expired Employment Authorization Document issued by the INS which contains a photograph (INS Form I-688B)

Illustrations of many of these documents appear in Part 8 of the Handbook for Employers (M-274)