Published: 13.07.2026
A May 19 executive order directed the Treasury Department and financial regulators to strengthen customer identification and consider immigration status where relevant to fraud, money-laundering, and repayment risks. Regulators have also issued or prepared guidance for banks on managing credit risks associated with customers who lack work authorization.
According to the sources, banks are being directed toward more intensive checks of customer identity, beneficial ownership, and, in specific risk situations, lawful immigration status and work authorization. For people without work authorization, access to credit cards, loans, and other financial services may become more difficult because lenders are expected to consider possible deportation or loss of wages. The main group affected is migrants without work authorization who plan to open accounts or obtain credit in the United States. People moving with valid work authorization should still monitor the changes, but the sources frame the enhanced checks around risk-based cases rather than automatic closure of all accounts.