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Voluntary National Insurance

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Adding to your state pension while abroad

NI contributions. Changes to the rules mean that you may be entitled to pay voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 NI contributions for periods spent abroad. These will count towards your entitlement to a UK state pension.

Conditions. You must have lived in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Turkey for three consecutive years, or paid three years of social security contributions in one or more of those countries. You must also at some time have paid either Class 1 NI or Class 2 NI (see The next step ).

For a link to HMRC’s voluntary contribution webpage, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 24 issue 10.