Government Gateway (UK) confirm identity method update!

[Beaglehound]

UK state pension is not nationality based, so non-nationals who worked in the UK at some point can presumably continue paying voluntary contributions once they leave. Pretty sweet deal if so (Japan only allows Japanese nationals to pay into kokumin nenkin on a voluntary basis from abroad).

Indeed. My wife was living and working in the UK for a few years before we moved here, has an NI Number and all that, so is legally permitted to continue paying into the pension system from abroad. It seems too good to be true, doesn't it? We wouldn't be too surprised if they suddenly said "Sorry foreigners, only British citizens and/or residents can get a state pension from now". Not sure if they'd return her voluntary contributions if this happens? But right now it seems like a risk worth taking

My wife who is Polish did live in the UK for a year when my kids were going to primary school. She does have a national insurance number. She also has a unique taxpayer reference for her for a flat we have in London, which is put through her name for the tax return. Is it worth a try in getting the voluntary NICs for the state pension? We are both residing in Japan.

Unless she has lived in the U.K. for a continuous three year period, or paid three years worth of NI, I don’t think she will qualify.

[kuma]

My wife who is Polish did live in the UK for a year when my kids were going to primary school. She does have a national insurance number. She also has a unique taxpayer reference for her for a flat we have in London, which is put through her name for the tax return. Is it worth a try in getting the voluntary NICs for the state pension? We are both residing in Japan.

Unless she has lived in the U.K. for a continuous three year period, or paid three years worth of NI, I don’t think she will qualify.

A couple of nuances to add:

1. NI38 does dangle the following:

If you lived or worked in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Turkey, time spent there may help you to meet condition 1(a) or 1(b).

[Condition 1(a) = 3+ years continuous residence in UK; 1(b) = paid 3 years' worth of NICs]

However, I cannot see any further detail within NI38. One might have to enter the rabbit hole that is HMRC's National Insurance Manual, and perhaps this section: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... l/nim33004 (Only potentially relevant if your wife has lived or worked in the EU or other countries mentioned.)

2. Just to note that 3 years' worth of NI contributions could come in less than 3 years of UK residence. For example, the one year of UK residence mentioned in Wales4rugbyWC19's post could have given 2 qualifying years if the residence straddled two tax years and earnings in each tax year were above a threshold. In 2022-2023, the threshold is earnings of £6,396. So some qualifying years can be gained quite 'efficiently' when moving into or out of the UK. (Explained pretty well here: https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/stu ... -insurance)

(Your wife could also have had the starting credits applied at the time of her NINO acquisition if she met the eligibility requirements agewise and her inbound move to the UK was prior to 2010. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... hanges.pdf)

[JimmyK]

This is very welcome news! It might’ve already been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but would anyone happen to have the link to the correct section of the website where I can find this info for creating an account?

[beanhead]

This is very welcome news! It might’ve already been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but would anyone happen to have the link to the correct section of the website where I can find this info for creating an account?

https://www.access.service.gov.uk/login/signin/creds

[JimmyK]

Great! Thanks!

[beanhead]

If that link doesn't work you just have to find State Pensions and then Check your State Pension, or something similar.

[kuma]

My wife who is Polish did live in the UK for a year when my kids were going to primary school. She does have a national insurance number. She also has a unique taxpayer reference for her for a flat we have in London, which is put through her name for the tax return. Is it worth a try in getting the voluntary NICs for the state pension? We are both residing in Japan.

Unless she has lived in the U.K. for a continuous three year period, or paid three years worth of NI, I don’t think she will qualify.

A couple of nuances to add:

1. NI38 does dangle the following:

If you lived or worked in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Turkey, time spent there may help you to meet condition 1(a) or 1(b).

[Condition 1(a) = 3+ years continuous residence in UK; 1(b) = paid 3 years' worth of NICs]

However, I cannot see any further detail within NI38. One might have to enter the rabbit hole that is HMRC's National Insurance Manual, and perhaps this section: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... l/nim33004 (Only potentially relevant if your wife has lived or worked in the EU or other countries mentioned.)

2. Just to note that 3 years' worth of NI contributions could come in less than 3 years of UK residence. For example, the one year of UK residence mentioned in Wales4rugbyWC19's post could have given 2 qualifying years if the residence straddled two tax years and earnings in each tax year were above a threshold. In 2022-2023, the threshold is earnings of £6,396. So some qualifying years can be gained quite 'efficiently' when moving into or out of the UK. (Explained pretty well here: https://www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/stu ... -insurance)

(Your wife could also have had the starting credits applied at the time of her NINO acquisition if she met the eligibility requirements agewise and her inbound move to the UK was prior to 2010. See: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... hanges.pdf)

nidirect.gov.uk (Northern Ireland site) is sometimes better at explaining things than gov.uk.

Below, it clarifies how the “time spent in the EEA/Switzerland/Turkey” condition works for qualifying years:

Example:

You have seven qualifying years from the UK on your National Insurance record when you reach State Pension age.

You worked in an EEA country for 16 years and paid contributions to that country’s state pension.

You will meet the minimum qualifying years to get the new State Pension because of the time you worked overseas. Your new State Pension amount will only be based on the seven years of National Insurance contributions you made in the UK.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/li ... te-pension

Presumably similar logic is applied for the “time spent in EEA/Switzerland/Turkey” proviso for the 3yrs of continuous UK residency criterion OR 3+ yrs of NI contributions (condition slightly more hazy) for eligibility for voluntary NICs. Time spent abroad helps reach the qualifying period of residency (/contributory record), but doesn’t help boost the pension amount.

Thus, the door could be open for your wife to pay voluntary NICs if she has EEA/Switzerland/Turkey residency in addition to her brief UK residency. (Cleaner case if EEA etc residency and UK residency was consecutive.)

Furthermore, as an inbound migrant to the UK back in the day, she may have had the 3yrs of starting credits automatically applied to her record when her NINO was created even though the years in which she turned 16, 17 and 18 probably predated her move to the UK. Only applicable if (1) she is of a cohort eligible for the starting credits and (2) her move to the UK was in 2011 or earlier.

Does it sound like your wife might be eligible for voluntary NICs?

[kuma]

nidirect.gov.uk (Northern Ireland site) is sometimes better at explaining things than gov.uk.

Below, it clarifies how the “time spent in the EEA/Switzerland/Turkey” condition works for qualifying years:

Example:

You have seven qualifying years from the UK on your National Insurance record when you reach State Pension age.

You worked in an EEA country for 16 years and paid contributions to that country’s state pension.

You will meet the minimum qualifying years to get the new State Pension because of the time you worked overseas. Your new State Pension amount will only be based on the seven years of National Insurance contributions you made in the UK.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/li ... te-pension

I now see that gov.uk has this covered too:
https://www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/li ... g-overseas