This spring U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) began implementation of a phased in Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record, automation process. The Form I-94 is issued to all visitors entering the U.S. and assists CBP in tracking temporary non-immigrants, visa overstays, and other relevant information concerning foreign nationals entering the U.S. The new program created a paperless admission process with the ultimate goal of eliminating the paper I-94 card for foreign travelers. The automation enables CBP to organize admission data for sea and air entries easily and accessibly, saving an estimated $15.5 million per year in related costs (not from a reduction in paper). While the effort to move to an electronic system should be commended, the new system may make life a bit more complicated for employers sponsoring foreign workers due to the requirements of the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification Form process. Travelers, with the exception of asylees and refugees who will continue to receive paper Form I-94 cards, will now receive an admission stamp together with a tear sheet providing instructions on how they may access and print their electronic Form I-94 by visiting www.cbp.gov/I94.
Continue Reading I-94 Automation and the I-9 Process: Making the Form I-9 More Complicated

On May 30, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for El Salvadorians for an additional 18 months beginning September 10, 2013, and ending March 9, 2015.

What does this mean for employers?

For companies whose workforce may include individuals with TPS from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Syria, is critical to be familiar with the work authorization benefits of TPS to avoid issues in the Form I-9 employment eligibility verification process.Continue Reading Filling out the Form I-9 for TPS beneficiaries: Work Permits extended for El Salvadorians

On June 6, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service issued Revenue Ruling 2013-14, which concludes that a Fideicomiso or a Mexican Land Trust (MLT) is not taxed as a “trust” for U.S. income tax purposes. While most practitioners have operated on that assumption, it is helpful to have official confirmation from the IRS.

Non-Mexican persons are prohibited from directly holding title to Mexican residential real property in restricted zones (so-called “Greenacre” in the Revenue Ruling). But non-Mexican persons, after obtaining the required permit, may hold such property through an MLT Agreement with a Mexican bank.Continue Reading Internal Revenue Service Concludes that Fideicomiso or Mexican Land Trusts are not “Trusts” for United States Tax Purposes

As an executive or in-house counsel, your work likely reaches across the globe.

90% of companies in the United States are involved in litigation—much of it international. American companies have increased overseas business from 49% in 2008 to 72% as late as 2010.

If you work for a medium to large corporation, you are likely working overseas or interacting with colleagues that are. This means that you are likely working around the clock putting out fires, making deals, and juggling regulatory hurdles. Are you worried of running so fast in such unknown territory that you may miss something? Do you wish you had more time to learn everything to minimize your company’s business and litigation risks?Continue Reading 6 Ways to do Business Overseas While Reducing the Perils of Future Litigation

By Brian Arbetter

Mexico’s new Federal Labor Law (FLL) took effect on December 1, 2012. The reform seeks to modernize Mexico’s labor law. The new FLL’s major, employment related amendments include increased regulation of outsourcing jobs, increased flexibility in hiring and payment of wages, the addition of the concepts of diversity, nondiscrimination and anti-harassment, and parental leave rights.

Previously, companies entering Mexico would set up two entities, one of which would be used to outsource employment to avoid paying worker benefits, including avoiding Mexico’s mandatory 10% employee profiting sharing requirement. Now, among other requirements, employers may only outsource employees if the outsourced employees perform work of a specialized character. In other words, under the new FLL, companies will need to evaluate the way they are structured or risk paying all employees (outsourced or otherwise) all employment related liabilities (such as notice requirements, severance payments, profit-sharing and social security).Continue Reading Mexican Federal Labor Law Reform: What Companies Doing Business in Mexico Need to Know

By Brian Weimer and Douglas Svor 

In August 2012, the Coalition for Broadcast Investment (“CBI”), a group comprising national broadcast networks, radio and television station licensees, and community and consumer organizations, filed a letter with the FCC requesting clarification of the foreign ownership rules contained in Section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act. Specifically, CBI requested clarification that “the FCC will conduct a substantive, facts, and circumstances evaluation of proposals for foreign investment in excess of 25 percent in the parent company of a broadcast licensee.…” If adopted, this approach would represent a marked change of course for the FCC, which has in the past “categorically refused” to consider transactions involving investment in broadcasters above the 25% benchmark, according to CBI. Continue Reading FCC Considers Proposal To Lift 25% Cap On Indirect Foreign Investment In Broadcast Licensees

By Amy McEvoy

International buyers invested $82.5 billion in U.S. residential real estate (4.8% of total U.S. sales) according to the most recent survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors for the 12 month period ending with March 2012. According to that survey, the top states in the U.S. for international buyers were Florida, California, Arizona and Texas. That survey also finds that the top-five international buyers were from Canada, China, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom and that Brazil also remains a major source of purchasers. Homes are bought in the U.S. for investment, vacation-use, temporary use for professional, educational (which could include providing a home to a child who is pursuing his or her education in the U.S.), and a myriad of other reasons.Continue Reading Considerations For International Clients Who Intend to Buy A Home In the U.S.

By Marcos Vergara del Carril 

In what the Financial Times has called “the sovereign debt restructuring case of the century,” Argentina has timely submitted its proposal as requested by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, with which it is willing to make payments on approximately $1.3 billion of unpaid debt obligations that stem from the country’s $95 billion debt default of December 2001.Continue Reading The fate of Argentina’s debt restructuring is getting closer

By Marcos Vergara del Carril 

The new President of Mexico, Mr. Peña Nieto, has reached an unprecedented multi-party agreement between his party, the Partido Revolucionario Industrial (PRI), and the rest of the major political forces: the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), which governed Mexico between 2000 and 2012, the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) and the Partido Verde Ecologista (PVE).Continue Reading Historical Reform of the Mexican Telecommunications Industry

Under the leadership of President Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico has recently approved a historic constitutional amendment reforming the country’s archaic education system. In order to push this historic reform, which is commonly known as the “education reform”, President Pena Nieto overcame great opposition from the country’s teachers union, which is the largest union in Latin America. The powerful union has been led by Elba Esther Gordillo for over thirty years and has wielded great power over elections throughout the country. In an unprecedented turn of events, the union lost the battle against the reform and its omnipotent leader was arrested and now faces embezzlement charges. If found guilty, Gordillo could face thirty years in prison.Continue Reading Mexico’s Education Reform May be a Catalyst for Change