Illegal immigrants: UK banks to check 70m accounts as part of government plan

Banks and building societies in the UK are to check some 70 million current bank accounts in an attempt to identify illegal immigrants in the country, the Guardian has reported.

"This is the biggest extension of Theresa May’s plans to create a 'hostile environment' for illegal immigrants in Britain," the British daily said in an exclusive report.

The scrutiny will start from January 2018.

The Home Office believes that there are around 6,000 visa overstayers, failed asylum seekers and foreign national offenders facing deportation in the first year of the checks.

The checks are to be carried out quarterly, the report added.

"The accounts of those identified will be closed down or frozen to make it harder for them to establish or maintain a settled life in the UK," it added.

Banks have been told to adopt a default position of telling customers to take up the matter with the Home Office if a mistake has been made, even if they provide a passport or biometric residence permit showing they are lawfully present in Britain.

According to the Guardian, officials say freezing accounts that hold significant sums “will create a powerful incentive [for those involved] to agree to voluntary departure” so they can secure their money once they have left the country.

Immigration welfare campaigners, however, warned that the Home Office’s recent record meant it could not be trusted to implement this new system without errors.

Satbir Singh, the chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, has criticised the move: “The government’s own record shows it cannot be trusted even to implement this system properly."

"Immigration status is very complex, and the Home Office consistently gives out incorrect information and guidance," he added.

“Migrants and ethnic minorities with every right to be here will be affected by the imposition of these new checks.”

The Guardian confirmed with the Home Office the January implementation date for the bank checks after being alerted by a reader who is a European national resident in Britain.

Her husband spotted a reference to “changes to how we check your eligibility to the bank with us based on your immigration status” in an email from Barclays detailing their latest changes in their banking terms of conditions.

Dominique Welbank said: “As a French national having lived here since 1991, and having been denied permanent residence because I do not have comprehensive sickness insurance, I have no confidence the Home Office will not extend this scheme to EU citizens like myself because of Brexit.”

Status checks are required by anyone opening a new bank or building society account under the Immigration Act 2014, but no measure has previously required checks on the scale of every current account in Britain, the report said.

The new legislation requires the banks to check the identity of every current account holder against a Home Office supplied database held by an anti-fraud organisation, Cifas.

It includes details of those whom the Home Office regards as liable for removal or deportation because they are overstayers, failed asylum seekers or those who have absconded from immigration detention.

Safeguards are included to prevent the closure of a bank account which would leave the account holder without the subsistence means to live. Account closure can also be delayed to recover debts or deal with complex joint accounts.

An official at Home Office impact assessment acknowledged “the proposed measures may have the potential to impact on the appetite of firms to offer banking services to legal migrants who do not have permanent leave to remain in the UK".

With the promises of monitoring the situation, officials added that "the banking laws ban discrimination against legally resident customers."

The January implementation of the quarterly checks on the current accounts operated by every bank and the building society in Britain are part of Immigration Act 2016 measures to create a hostile environment for illegal migrants.

Other measures include “right to rent” checks with heavy fines for landlords who let homes to illegal migrants, checks on driving licences and tougher measures against illegal working.

Banks have also been told there is no requirement on them to contact account holders or require additional documentary evidence as part of the check.

A Home Office spokesperson defended the introduction of the checks saying: “We are developing an immigration system which is fair to people who are here legally, but firm with those who break the rules.

"Everyone in society can play their part in tackling illegal migration."

A Barclays spokesperson told the Guardian that the bank was simply complying with the Immigration Act 2016 and the checks impacted on all customers regardless of nationality.