The explosive data emerges as no-nonsense Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood prepares to unveil strict new laws on Thursday, tying migrants’ right to settle in the UK to steering clear of benefits.

Under the groundbreaking “earned settlement” system, foreigners’ path to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) will hinge on their ability to stand on their own two feet without sponging off the taxpayer, while paying National Insurance, keeping their noses clean, mastering English and giving back to society through volunteering.

Migrants face doubled wait for permanent residency

In a major shake-up, migrants will now have to tough it out for a whopping 10 years – DOUBLE the current five – before they can even dream of claiming ILR, unless they’re making a truly exceptional contribution to Britain.

Those who cling to benefits, break the law or fail to pull their weight will face an even longer slog to ILR and could be booted out of the country altogether when their visas expire.

Retrospective rules to stem ‘Boriswave’ benefit bill timebomb

The seismic changes will also hit the 1.6 million migrants who flooded into Britain since 2020 as part of the “Boriswave” influx, retrospectively slapping them with a decade-long benefit ban from the moment they’re eligible for ILR in January.

The Government is scrambling to avert a looming benefits bill catastrophe, with over 800,000 of these migrants languishing in low-paid jobs, meaning they and their families could soon be claiming Universal Credit to the tune of hundreds of millions.

Asylum overhaul and Farage factor fuel migration crackdown

Mahmood’s no-holds-barred assault on legal migration comes hot on the heels of Monday’s major asylum revamp, which torpedoed refugees’ automatic right to stay and imposed a 20-year wait for permanent settlement on those allowed to remain.

The Tories are desperately racing to claw back ground from a surging Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage sent shockwaves through the establishment this autumn by vowing to rip away ILR from swathes of non-EU citizens and force them to reapply under far tougher rules.

Only “net contributors” welcome in Britain long-term

Under the Conservatives‘ plans, jobless and low-earning migrants will be barred from putting down permanent roots in Britain, with only those who’ve paid their way over 10 years earning the right to settle for good.

“I believe that foreign citizens should not be given any benefits at all, unless we are obliged by international treaty,” thundered shadow home secretary Chris Philp. “That will end this huge con where British taxpayers are being made to subsidise immigrants.”

Record-smashing migrant benefit claimant numbers revealed

The jaw-dropping official data lays bare the scale of the migrant benefits crisis engulfing Britain.

A staggering 1.27 million migrants were claiming Universal Credit last month – the highest figure on record and a massive leap from just 883,000 in spring 2022.

That’s an eye-watering 44% explosion in less than four years.

The vast majority – 762,000 – are those granted the right to stay under the EU settlement scheme, while 219,000 have already secured ILR, largely after arriving on work visas. Some 125,000 claimants are refugees, with another 77,000 entering via family reunion routes.

Last month alone saw an astonishing 14,451 new migrant claimants – a rate of 472 signing up for benefits every single day.

But the Government insists the overall proportion of foreign claimants is falling, with a spokesman declaring: “The number of Universal Credit claimants across all categories – including British nationals – has been increasing as we have invited tens of thousands of people each month to move from legacy benefits onto the modernised system.”