One migrant granted permanent settlement or citizenship every MINUTE during three month period, figures show

MIGRANTS have been granted permanent settlement or British citizenship at a rate of more than one a minute, figures reveal. A total of 140,122 secured one of the two statuses in just three months to June — equivalent to 1.07 every 60 seconds. Migrants have been granted permanent settlement or British citizenship at a rate of more than one a minute, Passengers wait for passport checks at Heathrow airport Credit: Yau Ming Low Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to rip up the existing settlement system Credit: News Group Newspapers Limited It comes amid a wider rush to secure permanent status ahead of tougher immigration rules. Some 199,628 people were granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the year to June — up 24 per cent and the most in 16 years. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! The status allows them to live in Britain permanently, claim benefits and apply for social housing if eligible. Reform UK claims they could leave taxpayers with a £48billion bill over their lifetimes. Over the same period, 245,520 became British citizens and a record 315,224 applied for citizenship. Tories and Reform last night seized on the figures to warn of the growing cost to taxpayers. Reform’s Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said: “The Boriswave of millions of unskilled migrants the Tories let in are now qualifying for ILR. “They’re about to bankrupt our country. Reform will abolish ILR and reverse the Boriswave.” Most read in The Sun Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp also accused Labour of an “immigration free-for-all”. He said: “Indefinite leave to remain comes with access to benefits, social housing and a British passport at the end of it, and Labour are waving it through faster than anyone ever has.” Settlement numbers could soar further in the coming years as the foreign workers who came to Britain after Brexit reach the point where they can stay permanently. The Home Office estimates that from 1.3million to 2.2million could settle between 2026 and 2030. Reform’s Home Affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf says Reform will ‘reverse the Boriswave’ Credit: Alamy Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused Labour of an ‘immigration free-for-all’ Credit: Getty Reform’s analysis claims the taxes paid by migrants who came on work visas will be massively outweighed by the lifetime costs of dependants, refugees and other groups granted ILR. It puts the overall net lifetime bill for this year’s recipients at £48.5billion, after taking into account taxes paid and the cost of benefits and public services. And the party warned this could prove a relatively cheap year as more foreign care workers become eligible for permanent status. The prospect of such a huge settlement wave comes as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood prepares to rip up the existing system. Her planned “earned settlement” regime would double the standard wait for permanent status from five to ten years, with lower-paid foreign workers facing 15 years and refugees at least 20. High earners and some public sector staff may qualify sooner but those who claim benefits or commit crimes could face longer waits. But Ms Mahmood is under pressure from left-wing Labour MPs to ease back on the crackdown, including over how the regime should apply to migrants already living in Britain. She has promised “transitional arrangements” for those already here but has yet to confirm the final rules. HOTEL BILL IS HALVED By Julia Atherley THE number of migrants staying in hotels has halved in a year — with many moved into homes in the community instead. Almost 90,000 asylum seekers are being housed at the taxpayers’ expense, with 73,068 in HMOs, flats and army bases. A total of 16,021 are in hotels, down from 32,059 last year. In ten years, the number getting government aid for housing or cash has doubled to 93,293. Immigration minister Anna Turley told The Sun: “We’ve slashed in half the asylum seekers in hotels in a year and saved £1billion since the election.” Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, said: “A Tory government would deport every illegal immigrant.”