The new rules will apply to around 2.6 million people who arrived after 2021 – but won’t impact those already with settled status.

Foreign nationals applying for indefinite leave to remain must have no criminal record, speak English to A-level standards and have no debt, under Labour’s new proposals.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs: “The Government proposes that those who have received benefits for less than 12 months would not qualify for settlement until 15 years after arrival. For those who have claimed benefits for more than 12 months, that would rise to 20 years.

“To encourage the use of legal routes into this country, those who arrive illegally could see settlement take up to 30 years, as has already been set out, refugees on poor protection will qualify for settlement after 20 years.

“Those who move to a work and study visa could earn settlement earlier and those arriving by a safe and legal route would earn settlement at 10 years.”

The consultation also “proposes that benefits might not be available to those who have settled status, reserving them instead for those who have earned British citizenship”, she said.

Under Labour’s new proposals, migrants making national insurance contributions will receive settlement after 10 years.

But higher and additional rate taxpayers will be able to secure indefinite leave to remain before that.

Under the current system, settlement is typically granted with few conditions after five years in the UK.

The Home Secretary said the proposed changes will not apply to those already granted settled status.

A staggering one in 30 people “in this country” have arrived since 2021, Ms Mahmood revealed.

She added: “This is the result of the extraordinary open border experiment conducted by the last Conservative government.

“In that period – now sometimes called the Boriswave – immigration controls were drastically lifted, this was most notable in the case of the health and care visa where minimum salary requirements were dropped.

“We propose these changes apply to everyone in the country today who has not yet received indefinite leave to remain.

“We will not change the rules for those with settled status today. These are people who have been in our country for years, even decades. They have families here, wives, husbands, children.

“They have worked in our hospitals, taught in our schools and have been contributing to our society for years. Fairness is the most fundamental of British values. We made a promise when we gave them settlement and we do not break our promises.”

Ms Mahmood said current forecasts show 1.6 million are due to settle in the UK between 2026 and 2030, with a peak of 450,000 in 2028.

She said: “To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege, and it must be earned. Today, that is not the case. Settlement or indefinite leave to remain comes almost automatically after five years’ residence in this country.”

But the Home Secretary proposed introducing more conditions on settlement rights.

She told the Commons: Firstly, the applicant must have a clean criminal record. Secondly, they must speak English to A-level standard. Thirdly, they must have made sustained national insurance contributions. And, finally, they must have no debt in this country.

“While these criteria set the bar that everyone must meet, there are a series of other tests that have today been published for consultation, and these either add or subtract from the 10-year qualifying period.

“To recognise the particular value to society they play, the Government proposes the following: those who speak English to a degree-level standard could qualify for a nine-year path to settlement. Those paying the higher rate of tax could qualify at five years while those on the top rate could qualify after three the same as those on global talent visas.

“Those who work in a public service, including doctors, teachers, nurses, would qualify after five years while those who volunteer, subject to this consultation, could qualify at between five and seven years.”

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said he supported much of Shabana Mahmood’s statement, but described it as “familiar”.

He said: “The idea of a 10-year route to (indefinite leave to remain) is something that we proposed in amendments to the Government’s Bill, I think, around about nine months ago.

“The Labour Party inexplicably voted against those measures and now they’ve adopted them.

“I am delighted to see the Home Secretary has got out the copy-and-paste function on her laptop and started copying and pasting Conservative policies.”

He also warned that transitional arrangements could create loopholes and reiterated calls for a cap on migration numbers.

Mr Philp added: “The days of mass low-skilled immigration must end. Britain cannot keep importing pressure on housing, on schools, on the NHS and expect working people to absorb the cost. We are pleased Labour have adopted our reforms to settlement which we announced months ago to ensure that only those who genuinely contribute to this country can stay here permanently.

“Under Conservative Party plans, anyone who came here to work but hasn’t worked, will have to leave when their visa expires. Only those who make a real contribution can stay permanently, and no one who is not a British citizen should expect to receive benefits funded by British taxpayers.

“That is why we will introduce a binding annual cap on immigration, which Labour refuse to back. And while we will leave the ECHR and remove all illegal immigrants, Labour intends to create a pathway to citizenship for people who arrived here illegally. Only the Conservatives will deliver strong borders.”

Ms Mahmood responded that Conservatives should apologise for “messing up the system so badly”, saying they “barely have the right to ask questions, let alone propose solutions”