I've been in Canada for a year or so now from england. does anyone know if there is anyway i can transfer what i have paid to the uk government in NI for pensions into the canadian scheme or recover what i've paid assuming i've no plans to return to the busy little island?

dt

Actually dont think that there is any way to do this.

Gaynor

From my understanding there is no way to get it back, you just have to wait til your 60/65 and get it then.

No, there's no way you can do that, you can only collect once you hit pensionable age. Depending on how old you are now, it might be a good idea to continue paying NI contributions, but don't forget the UK pension is frozen for ex-brits in Canada. The curse of emigrating to a commonwealth country!

Is this right ? So if we stay in Canada, and hit pensionable age, we would not be able to claim the UK state pension ?? Even though we paid NI contributions for a fair few yrs. ?

Yes you can claim it, but you would get a reduced amount, not the full state pension at today's rate.

Check the website: www.thepensionservice,gov.uk

The best thing to do is to check with the NI people the status of your contributions. You might already be entitled to a quarter or a half pension. If not, you can decide whether or not to make any voluntary contributions.

I had already qualified for a half pension when I emigrated, but Mrs JonboyE was 2 years short of a quarter pension. Two years of voluntary contributions seemed a very worthwhile investment.

Yes, you can have a UK State pension paid to you in Canada. It will be paid at whatever the prevailing rate is on the date you retire. We get stuffed because we do not get any annual increases, unlike UK residents and residents of non-commonwealth countries.

I paid NI in Uk for approx. 6 yrs. I live in States and assume i will get Social Security pension here. If i leave not sure if i will have enough. Is there a minimum number of years to pay into UK to get some sort of pension or part pension? Should i be paying back contributions? Anyone know how much?

you need to pay 10 years worth to get a 1/4 pension. It isnt frozen in the States, just Canada, Australia, NZ and SA. There a court case at the European Court for Human Rights about this and judgement is expected soon. So pensions may be unfrozen.

If you reach retirement age after 2010 then you only need to pay in 30 years not 40 to get a full pension.

Thanks for reply.

So it seems like it would be a good idea to back pay 4 years to get a quarter right? Does anyone living in U.S. know how many years work it takes to get a half or full pension? And.. if i have a half here and a quarter there will i get both and receive 3/4s whether i live here or there? How do i go about paying the back contributions?