Special to The Post-Searchlight

The new illegal immigration law will also affect approximately 95,000 Georgia real estate licensees and appraiser licensees, according to a press release from the Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC).

Effective Jan. 1, 2012, the Georgia “Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act of 2011” requires that all applicants for real estate licensure or appraisal certification, and those applying for renewal of an existing license or classification (including a broker or qualifying broker seeking to renew a real estate firm license or apply for a new firm license), appraisal management companies, schools, instructors and school directors, must submited to the GREC two important documents.

Those documents include a “secure and verifiable document” for identification purposes, as defined in Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) Section 50-36-2, and a “signed and sworn affidavit verifying the applicant’s lawful presence in the United States” as required in O.C.G.A. Section 50-36-1.

If a license or classification is currently eligible for renewal, it may be renewed prior to Dec. 31, 2011, without submission of the additional documents at that time. After Jan. 1, 2012, the additional documents will be required by the GREC.

The GREC must receive the additional documents by renewal deadline or the license cannot be renewed and will lapse, which requires the licensees to cease doing business and which requires they pay a lapse fee to renew.

Instructions on how to submit this additional documentation can be found online at the GREC website, www.grec.state.ga.us