Ministers are reported to be considering changes to the law that would allow cross-Channel migrants to be held in processing for up to 96 hours.
New proposals would increase the statutory limit to two or three days to cope with any future surges in Channel arrivals.
Migrants are currently scheduled to stay at the centre in Manston for 24 hours before being moved on to detention centres or to accommodation, such as hotels.
New figures show more than 43,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK so far this year.
The Ministry of Defence have since revealed that 884 people were detected in 17 boats on Tuesday.
The Telegraph says ministers are now looking to amend the rules on "short term holding facility" which sets the timeframe for processing of asylum seekers through a statutory instrument in Parliament.
Commenting on the reports, a Home Office spokesperson stated: "Staff across the Home Office have worked tirelessly under challenging circumstances to source alternative accommodation as quickly as possible for those who have been processed at Manston.
"The site remains at acceptable capacity levels and improvements continue to be made to ensure it is well-resourced to process migrants safely and securely.
"The global migration crisis continues to place an unprecedented and unsustainable strain on our asylum system, which is why we remain focused on deterring illegal migration and disrupting the criminal gangs responsible for these dangerous crossings."
North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale, a Conservative whose constituency includes the site of the processing centre, says the measures may be necessary to ensure full screening against infections.
He told The Telegraph: "I don't want anybody to be detained any longer than necessary but if you have a sudden influx and have to move them on, in certain circumstances it might take more than 24 hours especially if they have to be screened to ensure they have not got any infections."
Manston, at one point, held as many as 4,000 people despite being designed to hold just 1,600 detainees.
A former military base, it was designed to hold people for short periods of time during security and identity checks before they are moved to accommodation.
Some people were held for longer periods due to a lack of alternative accommodation, with concerns raised over poor conditions.
One man died in hospital last month after a diphtheria outbreak struck the processing centre, with dozens of cases of the highly contagious disease confirmed in asylum seekers.
Last week the Home Office announced the centre had been cleared, with all people based there now placed in alternative accommodation.
The Mirror have approached the Government for comment.
