New rules on how long EU jobseekers will have to wait to claim benefits are to be brought in early, No 10 has said.
The change to a three-month wait before EU citizens can apply for UK out-of-work benefits is being rushed through Parliament to start on 1 January.
It coincides with the date people from both Romania and Bulgaria will be able to work in the UK without restrictions.
David Cameron said the move sent a "clear message", but Labour said it had been left to the "very last minute".
The Liberal Democrats said the new rules - which were announced by the prime minister last month - were reasonable and sensible.
And there have also been suggestions that current EU rules mean residents of one country are already not allowed to claim benefits in another country for their first three months they are there.
Measures to restrict so-called benefit tourism were announced last month amid concerns about a predicted influx of Romanians and Bulgarians when they gain full rights to live and work in the UK at the start of 2014.
It is not known how many Romanians and Bulgarians will come to Britain when the final restrictions on their right to work elsewhere in the EU are lifted. There are already more than 100,000 working in the country.
BBC social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan said the government knows the public is anxious about the possibility of a large influx of immigrants and has been keen to introduce restrictions.
Under regulations being tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, migrants from all EU states will have to wait for three months before applying for jobseeker's allowance (JSA) and other out-of-work benefits.
In addition, only those who can provide compelling evidence that they have a genuine chance of finding work will be allowed to continue claiming benefits after six months.
Other changes include:
- Beefing up the "habitual residence" eligibility test for claimants
- Preventing people who have been removed for begging or sleeping rough from returning for 12 months
- Increasing fines for businesses found not to be paying the national minimum wage
When the new restrictions were announced, Downing Street said it was unlikely they would be in place in time for the 1 January deadline - when transitional controls on Bulgaria and Romanian workers in place since 2007 expire.
End Quote David CameronI want to send the clear message that whilst Britain is very much open for business, we will not welcome people who don't want to contribute"
But they are now being pushed through Parliament before it rises for the Christmas recess on Thursday to enable that to happen.
Mr Cameron said the government was acting on public concerns that some migrants from across the EU were coming to the UK to take advantage of the welfare system and public services like the NHS.
"As part of our long-term plan for the economy, we are taking direct action to fix the welfare and immigration systems so we will end the something-for-nothing culture and deliver for people who play by the rules," he said.
"Accelerating the start of these new restrictions will make the UK a less attractive place for EU migrants who want to come here and try to live off the state.
"I want to send the clear message that whilst Britain is very much open for business, we will not welcome people who don't want to contribute."
'Chaotic'EU rules allow benefit recipients to receive payments from their home country for three months when they move.
Those wishing to do so have to fill out a form authorising the "export" of their benefits. However those staying longer than three months in another country without finding a job or getting an extension will lose their entitlements.
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said she had called for the changes to be put in place nine months ago but they were being introduced in a "chaotic" fashion.
"David Cameron has left it until the very last minute to squeeze this change in," she said.
"Three weeks ago Theresa May told Parliament she couldn't restrict benefits in time, now the prime minister says they can. They wouldn't be on the run from angry Conservative backbenchers if they'd listened to us nine months ago."
UK ministers have declined to say how many people they expect to come to the UK following the lifting of controls but Bulgarian officials say they expect about 8,000 of their citizens to make the move every year.
Pressure group MigrationWatch UK says the figure will be much higher and it expects 50,000 people to come from Bulgaria and Romania each year for the next five years.
Bulgarians and Romanians in self-employed jobs and those employed in certain sectors such as agriculture and food manufacturing have been able to live and work in the UK for the past six years.
Transitional arrangements in other EU countries will also come to an end on 1 January.
Meanwhile, a YouGov survey in the Sun newspaper on Wednesday suggested that 42% of people thought it was of "utmost importance" for the prime minister to limit immigration from EU countries.
Some 43% of the more than 2,600 people polled said they would vote to leave the EU if a referendum was held now - 37% said no.
But more than half said they would vote against leaving the EU if Mr Cameron secured a major renegotiation of the UK's relationship with Brussels.
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