Universal Credit and immigration status: the figures and what they mean

The definitions, first

• Two different measures. DWP’s statistics count people on Universal Credit by their immigration status. The Freedom of Information figures measure money paid to households. They have moved differently and should not be compared as if they measured the same thing.
• Households, not individuals. Universal Credit is paid to a household. The FOI figures count the whole award to any household where at least one person is not a British, Irish or other Common Travel Area national. They are not payments to foreign nationals.
• A household counts if any member qualifies. A couple with one British and one non-British partner counts in full.
• Status decides entitlement, not nationality. Most people on temporary visas have "no recourse to public funds" and cannot claim Universal Credit at all. Those who can are mainly people with settled status, refugees and people on humanitarian schemes.
• Not official statistics. DWP says the FOI figures are not official statistics; its immigration status tables are official statistics in development.

People on Universal Credit by immigration status

Source: Department for Work and Pensions, Universal Credit quarterly statistics, 29 April 2013 to 14 May 2026: immigration status and nationality tables, published 18 August 2026.

How many are in work

DWP’s tables also show whether each person had earnings from a job or self-employment in the month. In April 2026, 49.3% of people on Universal Credit without British, Irish or right-of-abode status were in work (634,761), against 35.6% of British, Irish and right-of-abode claimants; 652,419 were not in work.

The Freedom of Information figures on spending

DWP answered a Freedom of Information request from the Centre for Migration Control (reference FOI2026/83815, 17 September 2026). The Centre published the reply in full; it was reported by The Telegraph (Charles Hymas) and PA Media. DWP’s own definitions:

• The figure is the whole Universal Credit award paid to households where at least one claimant's recorded nationality is not British, Irish or another Common Travel Area nationality, and who have passed the Habitual Residence Test. Universal Credit is paid per household and cannot be split between the people on a claim, so a household with one British and one non-British partner counts in full.
• It is not money paid to foreign nationals: it is money paid to households that contain at least one.
• Nationality is self-reported and the latest record is used. About 2% of households have someone with no recorded nationality and are left out.
• 'Not in work' means at least one person in the household had no PAYE earnings and was not flagged as self-employed. A household can be counted as both in work and not in work, so the two groups overlap: added together they come to 113% of the total.
• DWP says these figures are not official statistics, that the method is still developing, and that totals may differ from its benefit expenditure tables.

The earlier years often quoted alongside it (£7.5bn in 2023 and £9.5bn in 2024) come from earlier requests whose DWP replies this site has not seen, so they are not charted here. The "about £7.7 billion to households not in work" in some reports is the not-in-work row above, which overlaps with the in-work row: it is money paid to households where at least one person was not in work.

Source: DWP reply FOI2026/83815, reproduced by the Centre for Migration Control. Not official statistics.

Who can claim

• Most people who come to the UK on a temporary visa, for work, study or family, have a 'no recourse to public funds' condition: they cannot claim Universal Credit or most other means-tested benefits. People in the UK without permission cannot claim either.
• To claim Universal Credit a person must be British or Irish, have a right of abode, or hold an immigration status that allows access to public funds, and must pass the Habitual Residence Test and meet the benefit's other conditions. DWP puts it this way: it is immigration status, not nationality, that decides entitlement.
• The main groups who can claim are people with indefinite leave to remain, people with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, refugees and people with humanitarian protection, people on some resettlement schemes such as those for Ukraine and Afghanistan, and some people with limited leave whose visa carries no such condition or has had it lifted.
• People with pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme qualify only if they also have a qualifying right to reside, for example as a worker.
• Contributory benefits and the State Pension are not 'public funds', so people with the condition can claim them if they have paid enough National Insurance.

Sources: Home Office, Public funds: caseworker guidance; No recourse to public funds: guidance for local authorities (August 2026).

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