durham_lad

Our son successfully opened an account with HSBC 2 days ago, got the account number etc and has already started using it to set up Direct Debits. He did not have a NI number when he opened it and they said it was not a problem, just tell them when he has one. He had his interview yesterday at a Jobcentre+ to get a NI number and that should now arrive within 10 to 30 days by letter. They did give a letter to show to employers to prove he is registered and eligible to work. (He was born in England but left when he was 3 and never had a NI no.)

We were non residents in the UK for 29 years but held a UK bank account at HSBC without problems, and they stopped paying interest after tax when we filed an R85 with them. Once we got back last year and updated our resident status they had us complete an IRS W9. (They did seem very disorganized on this and we ended up completing the thing about 3 times over a number of weeks)

I’ve watched some episodes of UK Border control where they track down suspected illegal immigrants or raid establishments looking for illegal workers. When they find such folks they add them to their database of illegal workers.

Pulaski

Thank you for that tit-bit of information. I was beginning to think that it was me that has gone mad, not .... [never mind ]

durham_lad

You’re welcome.

His debit card arrived in the post this morning so he was super impressed at the speed, just 2 days after he opened the account.

Now to get his car insurance sorted.....

feelbritish

Went into bank this morning to ask about this and was told not to worry as you will be sent a letter directly asking to bring in documentation giving you the right to be residing in UK. It is rolling out next year and they won't just close accounts. They will be targeting anyone here illegally.

BritInParis

I'll be interested to see if they write to my other half in due course.

mrken30

Both HSBC and Citibank do not ask for NI numbers on their application forms. Just proof of citizenship. So maybe it is a bank specific thing.

https://www.citibank.co.uk/personal/...ry/app_cur.pdf

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/PA_esf-ca-a...t-app-form.pdf

mrken30

I wonder what documents they will require. Also what if I am not living in the UK. In that situation I won't be living in the UK, legally or illegally.

Pulaski

So how do they account for taxes if they don't have your NI number?

mrken30

They don't have to. Interest income over £1000 is self declared. This does not affect many people. The first £1000 of interest is tax free for all UK residents.

From 6 April 2016, the interest on your non-ISA savings is automatically paid tax-free, so you don't need to fill in forms to register or de-register for gross interest.
This means that forms R85, IF17 and R105 are now obsolete.

If you have an ISA account, I think they probably do need your NI number.

petitefrancaise

Let me get this right. If you are in the UK illegally, the banks will shop you to immigration?

apart from the big brother aspect, can't figure out what the problem is.

Pulaski

No, the other way around. If you are in the UK illegally, the government will tell the banks to stop providing services to you. It is the government, not the banks, who are identifying illegal immigrants.

Mr Ken is very confused, .... and he's trying to take the rest if us down with him, because he seems to think that when the British government is busy trying to identify illegal immigrants in the UK, the banks might accidentally deny banking services to him, a British citizen, who is not in the UK.

mrken30

The banks will freeze assets for people living in the UK illegally.
My question is will the banks do a blanket request for people to prove they are legally allowed to be in the UK.
If they do that, how would they expect a person to prove they are legally entitled to live in the UK?

It may be easier for the banks to take this approach than try to integrate their systems with a Government list.

Pulaski seems to think the banks will just look up people on a list for every account they have on their books.

I am concerned because I have active UK bank accounts, no valid UK passport or UK driving license.

petitefrancaise

Good grief. Do you have nothing better to do than think up possible scenarios?

The banks will use the Cifas Immigration Portal. And probably just cross check automatically using their own database with the Cifas immigration one. Wow. Isn't the world clever

mrken30

When you have experienced assets being frozen in the past , you tend to look at the bigger picture. Other BE members have had similar issues with accessing IRAs when living in the UK.

Dealing with financial institutions in a country you are not resident in can be a challenge.

The banks are often freezing church and charity accounts in the UK. I realize I am not a church or a charity, but you would not have expected this type of attitude 10 years ago.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/m...ozen-HSBC.html

The lender is desperate to avoid further punishment in the US after being fined £1.2billion for laundering cash for Mexican drug lords.
But it has introduced aggressive rules which see organisations lose access to their money if they are late completing questionnaires or lengthy phone interviews.

Pulaski

Did you actually read the article that you linked in post #1, above?

Let me help you (to be honest, you seem to need all the help you can get! ). This quote is extracted directly from the article you linked:
The checks will be made against a database, as per this quote also extracted directly from the article you linked: So you see it's not a matter of me "thinking" anything, the process is clearly stated in black and white!