The United Kingdom has for many years been battling to take charge of its borders and if nothing points you to the seriousness of this national quest, Brexit alone should make it clearer to you that the UK means business.
Immigration has been on top of the UK’s agenda, and the Home Office has been rolling in policies and mechanisms aimed at creating a hostile environment for those in the country without leave to remain (disqualified persons) so that these people will have no other options than to leave.
It’s the old rat and smoke hunt tactic which has been adopted: when a rat is being chased by a hunter and it takes refuge in a hole, the hunter’s best option is to usually discharge smoke into the hole to create discomfort. Eventually, the rat comes out running.
The latest to have come into force among series of new Immigration control rules is Section 40G of the Immigration Act 2014, as amended by the Immigration Act 2016. Under this, all UK banks and building societies have a duty to close any account where instructed to do so by the Secretary of State.
From 12 December 2014, banks and building societies were prohibited from opening new current accounts for any disqualified person (a person without leave to remain) or add such a person to an existing account under section 40 of the Immigration Act 2014.
Now, a new layer has been added; from 30 October 2017, banks and building societies must close or restrict access to an existing account owned by a disqualified person. The duty is to close the relevant account “as soon as reasonably practicable”.