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Post by PotterLog on Apr 9, 2024 13:03:01 GMT
No but you made the huge generalisation that expats “have no intention of living here”. Many certainly do intend to return to the UK at some point. Many will have worked and paid NI in the UK for years or decades before leaving. Some less so but you can’t pay voluntary top-up contributions if you’ve never worked in UK. It could be seen as a good “investment” if you qualify for the class 2 top-up offer but it depends on the individual’s circumstances. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to grant the option of continuing voluntarily payments to someone who’s worked and contributed in the past. Please correct me if I'm not understanding this correctly Class 2 contributions are for those expats living and working abroad “but only if you worked in the UK immediately before leaving, and you’ve previously lived in the UK for at least 3 years in a row or paid at least 3 years of contributions.” Class 2 voluntary National Insurance contributions for 2023/24 are a mere £3.45 per week (£179.40 p.a.). Class 3 voluntary National Insurance contributions for 2023/24 are a pricier £17.45 per week (£907.40 p.a.) and are for those expats living abroad but NOT working “ but only if at some point you’ve lived in the UK for at least 3 years in a row or paid at least 3 years of contributions.” I'd heard of people living here and working here who didn't have the necessary 35 years topping up with class 3 but I never realised this was available to people not living and working here. To be absolutely clear it's a no brainer for someone never having any intention of coming back to the UK, a full 35 years possible for as little as £179 per annum. There may well be expats who have every intention of coming back to the UK on retirement and I understand the continuance of NI contributions depending on the circumstances however whichever way you look at it it's a fantastic investment. I’m not sure what the question is 😛 But you can’t top up “a full 35 years” because you have to have a minimum of three years already in the system.. I think?. Anyway I agree if you qualify for Class 2 it’s certainly worth paying them. This is a special temporary offer by the UK gov by the way, not something that’s indefinitely available. The normal cut-off for backdated top-ups is six years I think. Also worth noting it’s not only expats who may benefit from this, there are UK residents who have large gaps in their NI payment record as well.
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Post by felonious on Apr 9, 2024 13:32:04 GMT
Please correct me if I'm not understanding this correctly Class 2 contributions are for those expats living and working abroad “but only if you worked in the UK immediately before leaving, and you’ve previously lived in the UK for at least 3 years in a row or paid at least 3 years of contributions.” Class 2 voluntary National Insurance contributions for 2023/24 are a mere £3.45 per week (£179.40 p.a.). Class 3 voluntary National Insurance contributions for 2023/24 are a pricier £17.45 per week (£907.40 p.a.) and are for those expats living abroad but NOT working “ but only if at some point you’ve lived in the UK for at least 3 years in a row or paid at least 3 years of contributions.” I'd heard of people living here and working here who didn't have the necessary 35 years topping up with class 3 but I never realised this was available to people not living and working here. To be absolutely clear it's a no brainer for someone never having any intention of coming back to the UK, a full 35 years possible for as little as £179 per annum. There may well be expats who have every intention of coming back to the UK on retirement and I understand the continuance of NI contributions depending on the circumstances however whichever way you look at it it's a fantastic investment. I’m not sure what the question is 😛 But you can’t top up “a full 35 years” because you have to have a minimum of three years already in the system.. I think?. Anyway I agree if you qualify for Class 2 it’s certainly worth paying them. This is a special temporary offer by the UK gov by the way, not something that’s indefinitely available. The normal cut-off for backdated top-ups is six years I think. Also worth noting it’s not only expats who may benefit from this, there are UK residents who have large gaps in their NI payment record as well. I'm questioning whether expats who've never worked in the UK but lived here for three consecutive years can avail themselves of a state pension. The rate of £900 has been massively increased under this government and was previously a lot lower. For 35 years of payments expats can get a full pension for around £30K at today's rates maximum, cheaper at the class 2 rate. I know it's available to UK residents, I always assumed it was aimed at people who had gaps when having low earnings or women in particular with gaps due to not getting back into full time employment after child rearing years but never realised it was available as an investment vehicle for wealthy expats with money to burn* * I only dare put this last sentence because I'm aware of your advanced sense of humour
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Post by neworleanstokie on Apr 9, 2024 13:41:05 GMT
It was a legal document in 1989 when I was last registered to vote. If I become a UK resident at some point in the future (i.e. a return to take care of an elderly parent) I would simply have to update to a new address and the new format, my ability to drive "legally" is not affected. What happens if you come back for a holiday and rent a car with your UK licence? Even if you can show proof of address as being in the UK, as a non-resident your insurance will be invalid because your DL is invalid. Last time I looked you had to be a UK resident to hold a valid UK driving licence. So, my original point remains. Why would the Govt accept a DL as proof of ID when that document is not valid. I would have thought the only genuine document to show would be your passport. I have no issue with this. I am just surprised. I have a valid UK passport as well - the point is they want to see a document with your UK address from where you were last registered to vote not where I live today (New York). When I travel to the UK I use my US drivers license to rent a car.
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Post by neworleanstokie on Apr 9, 2024 13:46:56 GMT
I’m not sure what the question is 😛 But you can’t top up “a full 35 years” because you have to have a minimum of three years already in the system.. I think?. Anyway I agree if you qualify for Class 2 it’s certainly worth paying them. This is a special temporary offer by the UK gov by the way, not something that’s indefinitely available. The normal cut-off for backdated top-ups is six years I think. Also worth noting it’s not only expats who may benefit from this, there are UK residents who have large gaps in their NI payment record as well. I'm questioning whether expats who've never worked in the UK but lived here for three consecutive years can avail themselves of a state pension. The rate of £900 has been massively increased under this government and was previously a lot lower. For 35 years of payments expats can get a full pension for around £30K at today's rates maximum, cheaper at the class 2 rate. I know it's available to UK residents, I always assumed it was aimed at people who had gaps when having low earnings or women in particular with gaps due to not getting back into full time employment after child rearing years but never realised it was available as an investment vehicle for wealthy expats with money to burn* * I only dare put this last sentence because I'm aware of your advanced sense of humour I have 5 "qualifying" years from the 80's. It MAY be a good investment but if I kick the bucket the day before my 67th birthday day HMRC gets to keep all of my contributions!
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Post by PotterLog on Apr 9, 2024 13:54:11 GMT
I’m not sure what the question is 😛 But you can’t top up “a full 35 years” because you have to have a minimum of three years already in the system.. I think?. Anyway I agree if you qualify for Class 2 it’s certainly worth paying them. This is a special temporary offer by the UK gov by the way, not something that’s indefinitely available. The normal cut-off for backdated top-ups is six years I think. Also worth noting it’s not only expats who may benefit from this, there are UK residents who have large gaps in their NI payment record as well. I'm questioning whether expats who've never worked in the UK but lived here for three consecutive years can avail themselves of a state pension. The rate of £900 has been massively increased under this government and was previously a lot lower. For 35 years of payments expats can get a full pension for around £30K at today's rates maximum, cheaper at the class 2 rate. I know it's available to UK residents, I always assumed it was aimed at people who had gaps when having low earnings or women in particular with gaps due to not getting back into full time employment after child rearing years but never realised it was available as an investment vehicle for wealthy expats with money to burn* * I only dare put this last sentence because I'm aware of your advanced sense of humour My sense of humour doesn't have to be advanced to find the notion of being wealthy absurdly amusing
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Post by auntiegeorge on Apr 9, 2024 16:25:41 GMT
Getting back to the original topic, UK citizens who live overseas cannot normally vote in their country of residence - unless they become a naturalized citizen of that country. For example, a UK expat living in the United States cannot vote in local and presidential elections. So if his/her vote in the UK is denied then he/she has no voice at all.
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Post by PotterLog on Apr 9, 2024 16:57:57 GMT
Getting back to the original topic, UK citizens who live overseas cannot normally vote in their country of residence - unless they become a naturalized citizen of that country. For example, a UK expat living in the United States cannot vote in local and presidential elections. So if his/her vote in the UK is denied then he/she has no voice at all. True but it also depends entirely on the policies of the countries. Depending on which countries ones is migrating to and from, you could be eligible to vote in the home country, the resident country, both, or neither. One doesn't affect the other.
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Post by gawa on Apr 9, 2024 17:01:54 GMT
Did you provide a physical copy of drivers license or just a number? they wanted to see a copy of the document that matches where I was registered in 1989. Doesn't sound very secure to me. I imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to register in behalf of someone else.
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