Bank account checks to deter illegal migrants

Banks and building societies will run immigration checks on as many as 70 million current accounts as part of a strategy to deter illegal immigration.

The Home Office hopes that the procedure, due to be implemented in January under the 2016 Immigration Act, will root out 6,000 people who have overstayed their visas. It will also identify failed applicants for asylum and foreign nationals facing deportation for criminal offences, according to The Guardian. Accounts which meet the criteria will be closed down or frozen.

Some immigration welfare campaigners criticised the plans, saying they could lead to legitimate migrants being wrongly identified.