Illegal migrants face a 20 year wait before they can claim benefits, under bombshell new plans. They will have to wait up to 30 years to get settlement rights, Shabana Mahmood is to announce. Low-paid workers, such as the 616,00 people and their dependents who came on health and social care visas between 2022 and 2024 in the so-called Boris Wave, will be forced to wait 15-years.

The changes will apply to almost two million migrants who arrived in the UK from 2021, subject to consultation on transitional arrangements for borderline cases. It will not apply to those with existing settled status who have made their lives here. Migrants who have gamed the system will also face penalties, the Government will announce.

Foreign nationals reliant on benefitsface a 20-year wait for settlement - quadruple the current period and the longest in Europe.

In contrast, doctors and nurses working in the NHS will be able to settle after five years. To support economic growth, the brightest and best of international talent could have settlement fast-tracked - with high earners and entrepreneurs able to stay after just three years.

The new rules will apply to anyone yet to be granted settlement rights.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Migration will always be a vital part of Britain's story. But the scale of arrivals in recent years has been unprecedented.

"To settle in this country forever is not a right, but a privilege. And it must be earned. I am replacing a broken immigration system with one that prioritises contribution, integration and respect for the British sense of fair play."