The White House has been told to investigate whether Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer broke the US’ immigration rules.
The White House has been asked to look into whether Rishi Sunak, the UK’s current Chancellor of the Exchequer, broke the United States’ immigration rules.
Sunak has come under heavy fire in recent days over his wife’s foreign tax status, allowing her to avoid paying taxes in Britain on her foreign income at a time when a number of charges had just been hiked by Sunak himself.
However, the Chancellor now appears to be in further hot water after a letter was sent to the White House asking American authorities to investigate whether Sunak broke the country’s immigration rules by refusing to give up his US green card before taking office in the UK.
According to a report by The Telegraph, the letter was sent by leftist MP Layla Moran, who has requested that US authorities examine whether Sunak’s possession of a green card while running to become a public representative in the UK is in contravention of US rules regarding his permanent resident status.
According to the American Foreign Affairs Manual on Abandonment of Permanent Residency, “running for political office in a foreign country” can be seen as evidence that someone has abandoned residency within the United States and, as such, Moran argues that it appears Sunak’s continued possession of his green card after that point might be in breach of US rules or regulations.
“This would appear to be in contravention to US State Department rules, which state that running for political office in a foreign country and being employed by a foreign government indicate abandonment of residence in the United States,” she reportedly argues in the letter.
The Liberal Democrat MP goes on to ask for US authorities to clarify “what sanctions may be applied” to Sunak should they indeed find that “either the letter or the spirit” rules regarding the holding of green cards were found to be broken by the Conservative Party politician.
Sunak’s UK Treasury has meanwhile insisted that the Chancellor had followed all rules, and that he had referred the matter to the British Cabinet Office in 2018 before first becoming a minister.
‘Socialist’ Sunak Roasted for Refusing to Cut Taxes and Launching Massive Cash Giveaway in Same Week https://t.co/sJxtUACnsO
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 3, 2022
While asking for any potential sanctions against Sunak to be made public, Moran argued that US authorities should do so as the issue was of significant interest to the British public.
With this, it appears the leftist politician is referencing controversy surrounding Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, who was recently found to be not paying UK taxes on her overseas earnings due to her status as a non-domiciled UK resident.
Although Sunak has emphasised that his wife has not done anything wrong, other politicians have expressed concern that Murty may be using a “loophole” to avoid paying taxes in the country.
Murty has since said that she will start paying UK taxes on her overseas income, while Sunak has meanwhile referred himself to the ethics advisor of Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson for investigation as to whether or not he followed the applicable rules regarding the matter.
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