Voluntary National Insurance

Skip contents

If you live or work abroad (or have previously)

The rules on which National Insurance contributions you can pay depend on the tax year you were living or working abroad.

If you’re paying for the 2025 to 2026 tax year or earlier

To pay voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 National Insurance contributions, you must have either:

  • previously lived in the UK for 3 years in a row
  • paid contributions (or had Class 2 contributions treated as having been paid) for at least 3 years in total

To pay voluntary Class 2 contributions, both of the following must also apply:

  • you worked in the UK immediately before leaving
  • you’re working abroad (or you worked while you were abroad)

If you were affected by incorrect HMRC guidance (2017 to 2019)

Between November 2017 and April 2019, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) guidance was incorrect. It said all these conditions must be true. If you did not apply, or your application was refused because of this, you may be able to pay at the original rates. Explain your situation when you apply.

If you’re paying for the 2026 to 2027 tax year onwards

You cannot pay voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions for time abroad.

You can apply to pay Class 3 contributions for time spent abroad after 5 April 2026 if you have either:

  • previously lived in the UK for 10 years in a row
  • paid 10 years of qualifying National Insurance contributions in total

Qualifying National Insurance contributions are:

  • Class 1, 2 or 3 contributions paid, or treated as paid, while in the UK
  • Class 1 or 2 contributions paid, or treated as paid, while working abroad under a Social Security Agreement
  • Class 1 contributions paid by posted workers for the first 52 weeks abroad
  • Class 2 contributions paid by volunteer development workers

Qualifying National Insurance contributions do not include:

If you applied before 6 April 2026

You may be able to pay Class 3 National Insurance contributions for periods spent abroad using the previous rules (that ended on 5 April 2026). These required 3 years of continuous UK residency or National Insurance contributions rather than 10 years.

All the following must also be true:

  • you applied to pay voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 contributions for the 2024 to 2025 or 2025 to 2026 tax year on or before 5 April 2026
  • you pay or have paid the voluntary contributions you applied for on or before 5 April 2027
  • you apply to pay Class 3 contributions for the 2026 to 2027 tax year on or before 5 April 2027

These rules will no longer apply once you return to live or work in the UK.

Find out what to pay

If you’ve not reached State Pension age, you can check your State Pension forecast or contact the Future Pension Centre to find out if you’ll benefit from paying voluntary contributions.

If you’ve reached State Pension age, or will reach State Pension age in the next 6 months, contact the International Pension Centre. They will check if you have a gap in National Insurance contributions and tell you how much you need to pay.

View a printable version of the whole guide

This page is Part of Plan your retirement income: step by step

  1. Step 1 Check when you can retire

    1. Check what age you can get your State Pension
    2. Find out about working after you reach State Pension age
    3. Find out if you can retire early with your workplace or personal pension

  2. and Check how much pension you could get

    1. Find out how much State Pension you could get (your forecast)

    You may also be paying into a:

    1. Find out if you’ll pay tax on your pension
    2. Find contact details for a lost pension
    3. Check how your pension is affected if you retire abroad

  3. Step 2 Increase your pension

    You might be able to increase the amount you get if you delay your pension.

    1. Find out about delaying your pension

    You might be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill in gaps in your National Insurance record (such as, from when you were not working or claiming benefits).

    1. Check if you can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions

    For advice about increasing your workplace or private pension, speak to a financial adviser.

    1. Find a financial adviser through Unbiased

  4. Step 3 Check what other financial support you could get

    Check what financial help you could get if you:

    You can also get free bus travel if you:

  5. Step 4 Decide when to retire

    1. Get advice on planning your pension and deciding when to retire