UK state pension

Yeah I had contacted HMRC a few months ago. They said it's done on a case by case basis, they wouldn't give an exact time so I would definitely try it. I think it's more related to claiming benefits before you left more so as "Immediately" starting work abroad. Sure it is normal to take up to 3 months to find a job then moving added to it.

Class 3 is the default for all. But if you read what I have attached, you could be entitled to pay class 2 even if you did not pay 3 years contributions. My wife is in the same situation and we applied for class 2 in the application. Unfortunately still have not received any confirmation letter.

I would think so

The screenshots I have put up are from the official NI38 document which is for working abroad. Too many times in my life I got wrong information from incompetent staff, not saying you did. But I would definitely try get more opinions and like you have send an official letter stating why you are entitled to pay class 2 with reference to the document NI38.

Now just to point out when we sent my wife's prsi contributions, we received a letter back saying that was not sufficient to show she was working in Ireland. So we hit them with copied payslips, P45, P60, letters from employees and so on.

We both applied to pay class 2 the first time, nearly 2 years ago. She worked 2.7 years and I worked 3.5 years. So I got accepted for class 2, she received a letter back saying as she did not have 3 years she wasn't approved for any classes. But at the end of the letter it stated that If she worked in another EU country this might help for her to get over the 3 years and pay contributions. They didn't say if it was class 2 or class 3.

So we sent the prsi contributions document to show "she worked" in another EU / Ireland.

They then sent a letter stating that the prsi contributions letter was NOT sufficient to prove she actually worked in another EU /Ireland country.

So the last thing we did was send all the payslips etc. in October.

Heard nothing back as of now.

We applied for class 2 the very first time and sent employer related documents showing she worked in Ireland once we got back from UK.

I suppose the first hurdle is to be allowed to pay any classes (class 3). We haven't got to that stage yet 😐

My wife being 37 we can make up most of the years going forward.

Yeah looks like that's what they are doing. For now we are just waiting for them to get back to us. Once we have the application in I think there is no rush to pay before the 5th of April. We started th application back in 2023, but they take forever to return correspondence and that's fair enough with so many people applying. So I don't think there is any rush once the application has started, so we are going to waiting to get a definitive answer.

Yes it is, I think if you were working in UK you would have been paying a £1000 per year anyway in NI contributions which is a bit more than class 3. To be honest I don't understand why they are allowing people to buy back years so cheaply at class 2?

I am going by when I lived in the UK back in 2015, National insurance covered medical, prescriptions, social welfare benefits etc. So they probably take into account that you won't use these services as an employee in another country. You usually pay class 1 as an employee in the UK and I think it's 12% or so of your wages (I think it is 🤔)

Then the main difference between class 2 and class 3 is that only if you are employed (and paying prsi in another country) you can pay class 2. So if not working you have to pay class 3. I think this is covered by a pension agreement between Ireland and UK and the EU.

So when not paying prsi or other insurances across the EU you then pay the higher class 3. And if you are an employee / self employed you then pay the lesser class 2 as you are already paying in another country.

So if you are employed like my wife then that's why we should be paying class 2.

If you look at prsi in Ireland, I only pay €500 per year prsi as I am a self employed landlord and under the threshold. While others pay 4% of there overall wages and the employer pays very high rates for same pension at the end. We are talking €1,000's of a difference.

If you have less than 3 years work there and can use some of your PRSI contributions to make up the difference be careful what years.

Those prsi contributions will go to either Irish Contributory State Pension or UK State Pension as far as I know , but not both .

but you are not formally transferring your prsi contributions to UK, there is a seperate formal process for that as far as I know, you are merely using them as proof that you have been working in another EEA country on leaving UK. And as @RCSATELLITES has said they did not even accept PRSI as proof he had to send payslips etc from his wifes work to prove she was working in Ireland so they don't actually tag any particular PRSI years for the UK system, they just required proof that she was working in Ireland

Can anyone remind me the address to send a letter to explaining for what years I've paid?