Key Post Step by step guide to applying for UK State Pension

"Am I missing something or have the conditions for Class 2 have been tweaked and the requirement to have started work on arrival abroad (eg Ireland) is no longer there?"

There's posts in the HMRC fora suggesting they are mainly concerned with the situation post 2006. Also people report paying class 2 or 3 depending on what they were doing here.

It's possible people have conflated the working in UK "immediately" before leaving with working in Ireland immediately after arriving. I've seen no official reference to the latter.

But seems for post 2006 years it's class 2 to buy back when working and class 3 when not

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Yes I have a friend who has been asked to pay class 2 on all the years since 2006, she has been working since then full time. After she left the uk she never set a foot in Ireland or the EU for years and did casual type work with no insurance record. It has taken me weeks to realise that no you don't need to have started work in Ireland immediately, what counts is what you did post 2006. So many people seem to think that and there does not seem to be much clarification about it online.

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In response to above posts by mmclo and Dopey1
I've had the same experience: have been fretting about if my being unemployed on returning from the UK in the 90s scuppered my otherwise legit claim for Class 2 NICs from 2006 on. It always seemed an odd measure. Am open to correction but I have been unable to find this clause in any official document. What I have seen, on this forum, are two Class 2 rejection letters and the reasons given are that the person must
1. be gainfully employed outside the UK
2. be in employment that is not Class 1 payable
3. have been ordinarily employed before they last left the UK
ie no mention of working on arrival in Ireland.
As above post says, people (incl myself) must have conflated the requirement to be in employment *immediately* before leaving the UK with a similar requirement for their new life in Ireland.

Hi @DannyBoyD,

I have a couple of questions about filing in CF83. Would be grateful for your help.

Work history;
UK Aug 94- Aug 96
Returned to Ireland and worked for the same employer as I had in UK Aug96-Oct98.
98-99 Australia work holiday visa
Aug 99-Dec 08 Ireland continu8ous employment

I'm getting confused about section 4.

Q.22. Should I put the same employer I had in Uk/Ireland in this box and the same for Q.26?
I hope this makes sense.
Thanks.

Q22 - your current employer - e.g. Acme Ltd, BallyGoForwards, Co Limerick.

Q26 is asking if you worked for the same employer in UK - i.e. Acme Ltd, Womble Town

ParnellMc said:

re "Do you intend to return to the UK to live in the future?": Is there anything wrong with saying No or is I Do Not Know a safer answer?

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I said "Don't Know" and it didn't affect my application

From posts #55 and #56

I use +441912037010
Lines open at 8am. Ring then for best chance of getting through. I rang at 8.10am on Wednesday and was on hold for 50 minutes.

I called HMRC +443002003500 (3 times) on Tuesday and the wait time was no longer than 15 minutes each time.


Just wondering what's the difference between the two numbers? [.........Not the mathematical difference!]

Thanks for the heads up, my Mother and sister have now completed their CF83’s and will send in Tuesday

Hi @DannyBoyD. Thanks for response.
Q.22 Not currently working. So will I put the details of my employer when I returned to Ireland from UK in Aug '96?This would also tie in with Q. 26 as I had the same employer in Ireland from Aug '96-Oct '98.
Thank you.

When sending in CF83 do you have to send in a record of your Irish PRSI contributions?
I got one sent to me with each year listed from Social Welfare. I assume they need this?
Thanks

Ingalway said:

do you have to send in a record of your Irish PRSI

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No.

Hi there,
I'm stuck on Q. 22 filling in CF83. I'm not currently working. So will I put the details of my employer when I returned to Ireland from UK in Aug in 1996.
Thank you.

Important if applicable to put any years working in Ireland, online form lets you put them in, for hard copy an attachment. Often the difference between class 2 and 3

Thanks for your reply. I'm doing rough draft hard copy of CF83 but will fill it out online. Maybe it'll be clearer which order I fill Irish work history in when I'm doing it.

Hi .
I received a confirmation letter from HMRC for my wife saying she had 8 qualifying years up to 2023.....For voluntary shortfalls she has class 2 and class 3 tax years...6 years are class 3 ..11 years are class 2
I've just paid for the cheaper class 2 initially...
Question is can I pay the class 3 years at a later stage

Jasper123 said:

can I pay the class 3 years at a later stage

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Yes. Keep an eye on the payment dates.

Hi,
For info. I completed tonight the online application to pay additional contributions (Link: form CF8 )and received confirmation of receipt with advisory note that HRMC will write in due course to confirm if application approved. A separate link to guidance on time frame for response advises that I should expect response by 4 September 2025. No mention of submitting by post.

As I knew my end date of employment in UK, but not the exact start day of my subsequent job in Ireland, I just put in a random date a few weeks after leaving UK and similarly for my start date for my later of two employments in Ireland.
However, I just saw online advice that if there's any break at all in employment dates it could mean being Charged Class 3 rates rather than Class 2.
I'll contact my employers in Ireland to confirm exact start dates of employment. Is there any means to update information once application already submitted? Is a break of a few weeks between employment dates likely to impact determination re. Class 2 v. Class 3?
Many thanks all for this very useful thread.