Britain is facing a migrant benefits timebomb as the number of people receiving handouts after being given settlement rights has doubled in three years.

A staggering 213,666 migrants given indefinite leave to remain received Universal Credit in July, up from 153,648 a year ago, new figures showed.

It also represents a 123% increase from the 95,612 in April 2022.

Another 770,213 European migrants are claiming Universal Credit, up from 644,847 in April 2022, after being allowed to stay under the EU Settlement Scheme.

And Britain’s record levels of immigration prompted fears the bill will spiral over the coming years. Research by the Centre for Policy Studies revealed over two million visas were issued to migrants between January 2021 and June 2024.

This has led to warnings that as many as 800,000 could apply for indefinite leave to remain – and get access to benefits, the NHS and social homes – after they have lived in the UK for five years.

The first of this cohort – dubbed the Boris Wave – could apply for indefinite leave to remain from January. Shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said: “Once they have ILR, they can stay indefinitely in the UK and access benefits, social housing and free healthcare.

“When millions of people across the country are struggling to get by, this is completely mad, and it must end. We must prioritise the needs of British citizens, and stop spending billions of pounds a year on those who’ve come from abroad.

“Our system needs a complete reset. The British people have never voted for mass unskilled migration, and they’ve certainly never voted to create a system in which billions of pounds a year are spent on foreign nationals who don’t even pay in.

“The Government is rightly telling people that we must make tough choices about our public finances, and yet seems happy to keep paying this money. How can that possibly be justified?”

Separate figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions on Tuesday, revealed 1.3 million foreigners are claiming Universal Credit.

Foreign nationals made up one in five unemployed people.

Of these, 524,598 were receiving in-work Universal Credit, while 759,375 were out-of-work claimants.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: “Universal credit claims now stand at a record high of nearly eight million — including 1.3 million foreign nationals.

“Hardworking British taxpayers are forced to fund the lives of people with no intention of working and no loyalty to this country.

“For years we’ve been told they come here to work and contribute, but the reality is too many arrive to take from our economy rather than add to it.

“A Reform government will ensure that migrants receive not a penny of universal credit. By raising the income tax threshold to £20,000, we will also make work pay, get more people into jobs and cut the universal credit bill.”

Net migration hit a staggering 906,000 in the year to June 2023, heaping huge pressure on the NHS, schools and housing. But it is predicted to settle at around 200,000 to 250,000 a year.

Around one in five migrants who come to the UK to work historically get indefinite leave to remain. This rises to 73% on other eligible visa routes, such as the Family Route. Over the period of Jan 21 to June 2024, 360,473 work visas were issued. This included 156,407 to dependants, according to the Centre for Policy Studies.

Some 647,134 came to the UK on the health and care visa, including 377,135 dependants, the CPS said. Meanwhile, 218,094 arrived in the UK on a family visa. The Hong Kong refugee visa also offered a pathway to indefinite leave to remain.

Any of these granted indefinite leave to remain could go on to claim benefits over the next four years. Long-term immigration fell below one million for the first time in around three years, according to figures published in May. This was driven by a sharp fall in the number of non-EU nationals moving to the UK for work.

This total fell by 108,000, or 49 per cent, in the year ending December. Student visa arrivals fell by 17 per cent.

That was estimated to be 948,000 in the year ending December 2024, down by almost a third from 1,326,000 in the previous 12 months.

There were larger falls in dependents coming to the UK, with study dependents down by 86 per cent, amounting to 105,000 people and work dependents dropping by 35 per cent, representing 81,000 people.

Karl Williams, Research Director at the Centre for Policy Studies, told the Daily Express: “Despite all the talk about bringing in only the ‘best and brightest’, our visa system has been incredibly welcoming of people who aren’t actually here to work – not least many dependants who arrived with those coming to work.

“The result, we believe, is that more than 800,000 recent migrants are likely to get ILR.

“Of these, about 375,000 are on work visas (including dependants of ‘main applicants’), and 425,000 are on non-work visas.

“In fact, there’s a very plausible scenario in which more than 1.2 million recent migrants go on to get ILR. That would amount to permanent population growth of 1.8% from just four years of immigration – the equivalent of adding the population of another Birmingham.”

Under plans to toughen up the system, Labour has vowed to force migrants to wait 10 years before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. But those who contribute more to society could earn settlement sooner.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have declared migrants will have to live in the UK for 10 years, earning at least £38,700 before they can be given indefinite leave to remain.

And, in a significant hardening of policy, the Home Office will be given powers to “remove those who have become a burden to the UK, including those reliant on benefits or falling below income thresholds”.