There has been new guidance published by HMRC on when and how to “Apply for a certificate to confirm you pay UK National Insurance, for instance, when working in a country that has a social security agreement with the UK”.
Where the country has a reciprocal agreement with the UK, the process has now been automated, and allows for the application of new certificates of coverage or extensions to existing certificates.
This form can be used to apply or extend a certificate of coverage if you are any of the below:
- an employer
- an employee
- self-employed
- an agent acting on behalf of an employer/employee.
To complete the form, you’ll need the following information:
- your name, and details of any previous names
- National Insurance number
- Nationality details
- Date of birth
- Where you are ordinarily resident
- employment or self-employment information, including relevant addresses.
- if working on a vessel at sea:
- the name of the vessel
- which country’s flag it flies
If you need to extend an existing certificate, you will need to know the date that the coverage expires and detail any changes in your circumstances since the previous application.
If the total period for the existing certificate and the extension is longer than allowed, a signed statement will need to be attached. The statement should detail why you want to continue paying UK National Insurance while working abroad and how it’s in your best interest. This will only apply if you are covered by certain agreements.
To complete the form, you will need to sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password (if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you first try to sign in).
