Glasgow Girl

Regardless of the class, I believe that you can only buy the previous 2 NI years at the rate current in that year. All years prior to that are at the current rates.

USADragon

This is the letter they sent recently detailing the missing years I was eligible to pay

Piff Poff

I'm on hold at the moment to HMRC as I need to follow up on my form, they have extended the deadline to pay to 31st July.

The app says I should've had a response by 20 Feb, nothing has appeared in my mailbox though.

stephend-

It seems we are getting mixed messages. Although my form has been sent, and so should be before April 5th, I specifically asked on a call today if the July 31st deadline was for PAYMENTS only, and he said that it was payments AND to receive the CF83 form. Not sure what to believe now.

Piff Poff

An update on my call today. The lady said as long as the form was in before the deadline, then that's ok. It's currently taking 31 weeks to look at the form.

stephend-

Do you mean the extended July 31 deadline?

Piff Poff

she said, the deadline has been extended and as long as the paperwork is in it's ok. I didn't ask if it was the extended deadline as I was calling to make sure a response to my form hadn't been lost. That's when I found out about the 31 week processing.

stephend-

Thanks for the clarification. I think what makes me nervous is that the Ministerial Statement (Link here) only talks about the extended July deadline being for payments , and that we might be told after the even that it was a mistake to suggest the application could come after April 5th.

I would recommend getting the form in, pronto, just in case.

Prog1

Sent mine in via USPS, 3-5 days for delivery. That was on March 15th. But the tracking says:

Label Created, not yet in system

A status update is not yet available on your package. It will be available when the shipper provides an update or the package is delivered to USPS. Check back soon.

!!!

Prog1

Guess I shouldn't have used USPS, ShipBob says:

There is one major con to using USPS for shipping to the UK: tracking packages no longer works once they leave the US. USPS packages are transferred to Royal Mail once they reach the UK. This may take anywhere from a few hours to days or even weeks and can delay delivery times.

Prog1

I expect to retire in the next 1-3 years. I can decide the exact timing. Are there employment requirements to be able to make a full years payment and still get credit for the full year?

stephend-

Very frustrating. I would just call the tax office and ask if they received it. I posted mine to family in the UK and was going to have them send it recorded delivery (as I knew about the tracking not working after it leaves the US), but the guy in the tax office advised against that as it can delay it a bit as the BX9 postcode is unattended and so the post has to get diverted to another office if it requires a signature. He recommended I just sent it first class then call the following week to see if they received it as apparently they check them into the system fairly quickly.

Glasgow Girl

You have to be employed to qualify for Class 2 but can can contribute Class 3 regardless of employment status, so worst case scenario you have to switch to Class 3 if you informed them you were no longer employed. However I know of no obligation to inform them of your employment status after you have set up payment. Perhaps it is in the fine print, if so I don’t recall seeing that.

maxibob

Do I have to have started work immediately after I arrived in the USA? I have been here for 32 years, and don't have W2's going back that far. I left the UK in Summer of 1991, worked for more than 3 years in the UK immediately prior to leaving, however I did not start working in the US until 2-3 months after arriving. I do have a US Social Security Statement showing that I had made contributions in the USA starting in 1991 (although it shows 1991-2000 as cumulative years). When I look on UK.GOV it is showing that I will owe 824 GBP per year, which seems to be the Class 3 rate. Also FYI for anyone interested it looks like HMRC has extended the date for completing and filing Form CF83 until July 20, 2023 as they have a backlog of several months.

Pulaski

Apply for the Class 2 rate, you should be OK, and there is no downside to applying. You don't have to have started work as you stepped off the plane, but I am not sure exactly what the rules are or how they are applied. I think one current BE member didn't start working until about a year after he arrived, and was still approved for the Class 2 rate.
Yes, the time has been extended, but time is still very short. Whatever anyone needs to do regarding Calculating and paying retrospective NI should be done as soon as humanly possible.