RetireJapan

IloveJapan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 2:01 am Hi, goodandbadJapan,

When I said “monthly basis” I was asking whether people gave employment history on a monthly basis (I.e. from month/year to month/year) or simply on an annual basis (I.e. from x year to y year). Probably the former, I guess? Or in fact, do they need the precise day of the precise month you started and finished?

Were you allowed to do class 2 NICs for freelance work? Does it depend on the number of hours? I am a full-time worker, but I don’t know what might happen to that position a few years down the road...or eventually I might have to change my work style for my child...so I was wondering what would happen to the NICs at that time.

Ok, I see. I think I gave month/year to month/year. Don't think I gave exact dates precise to the actual day of starting / finishing.I got class 2s for being self-employed and now the payments just get taken automatically from my UK bank account. Once you are in the system and paying, I don't think any changes will matter unless you go out of your way to tell them. But anyway, the main thing of importance seemed to be having three years (I think) of paying N.I. in the UK directly before moving abroad. If you meet that stipulation, and are now working abroad you should qualify for class 2s. But getting direct answers from them isn't always easy and you may very well get conflicting advice.

goodandbadjapan wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 6:48 am But getting direct answers from them isn't always easy and you may very well get conflicting advice.

Ain't that the truth...

I applied to pay Class 2 even though I assumed I would be refused and asked to pay Class 3... I had 4yrs of NICs to my name, but I'd only worked sporadic part-time positions for 3yrs prior to moving to Japan.
When filling out the form, I could not remember any of my UK part-time employment, so I just asked them to see my incomplete NIC record for those years -contributions were made, but not enough to complete the years...
As for my Japanese employment, I worked JET for 3yrs, then employed full-time by local Board of Educations -the exact dates I didn't know so I just wrote the dates I had in my passport for arriving/leaving Japan in-between jobs... That must've been sufficient... I've never been self-employed...
Anyway, I was accepted to make make Class 2 contributions.

I found this link about the 3 years of credits which used to be given at 16,17, and 18 if in full-time education.
https://community.hmrc.gov.uk/customerf ... 45bd0bb098