Paying voluntary NI contributions for a period of living abroad

FarSideoftheMoon

Hi, I recently applied to pay voluntary class 3 NI contributions for a period of 13 Years living abroad. It was an online form which simply asked questions that I answered, afterwards I received an email saying the HMRC had received my application, a reference number and information about finding out when to expect a reply.

I followed the instructions to find out when to expect a reply to my application and to my horror it said January 2026!

Now I’m very worried about missing the April deadline for going back to 2006 (I lived abroad from 2026) and also the costs going up for each year as seems to be happening already!

My question is, does anyone know a way of speeding this process up or will they take it from the date I applied?

They say online that they are dealing with requests fro April 2024 at the moment!

Please Help!

molerat

The cut off clock is stopped upon receipt of the CF83 application - get some screenshots.  I believe the prices are held as well but with class 2 it would not be much of a hardship !

p00hsticks

FarSideoftheMoon said:

Hi, I recently applied to pay voluntary class 3 NI contributions for a period of 13 Years living abroad. 

Do you mean Class 2 ? 
I may be wrong but I suspect there is nothing to stop you paying the more expensive Class 3 now, as those of us living in the UK don't get that cheaper Class 2 option.. 

pinnks

p00hsticks said:

FarSideoftheMoon said:

Hi, I recently applied to pay voluntary class 3 NI contributions for a period of 13 Years living abroad. 

Do you mean Class 2 ? 
I may be wrong but I suspect there is nothing to stop you paying the more expensive Class 3 now, as those of us living in the UK don't get that cheaper Class 2 option.. 

If you want to pay from abroad the process is the CF83 which tells you the available years and the cost f each at Class 2, 3 or a mix of each.

FarSideoftheMoon

Thanks for the replies, I believe, if I have read everything properly online, I have no alternative but to pay the class 3 contributions.

I have returned from abroad and am now resident here in the UK so I'm not applying from abroad. I expected it to take some time but not 11 months!

Molerat, thanks, that is reassuring about the clock stopping at application time but I don't think it was a CF83 as I'm in the UK now.

p00hsticks, "nothing to stop you paying the more expensive Class 3 now" suggests there is a different way to pay them! Does that mean I have gone the wrong way around paying them. There wasn't an online way of paying them last year so I was surprised to find one a few days ago, perhaps I should have done something different!

Your help is much appreciated!

FarSideoftheMoon

Hi all,

I have finally been able to speak to a Future Pensions advisor (after many calls and much elevator music), and all should be OK.

Yes it was the online CF83 form I filled in - I missed that detail while filling it in for myself but I have now filled it again for my wife.

Yes the clock stops at application time - thanks Molerat.

I am now awaiting a letter to confirm my application, which should arrive in the next few weeks - I hope!

As the HMRC website indicated it probably wont be sorted out until January 2026 - wow! At least it should be sorted out a couple of months before I retire.

Thanks again for your help.

pinnks

The fact that you are back in the UK does not mean that you are debarred from pay gap years, when you were abroad, at Class 2, if you qualified for Class 2 by reference to the year in question.