Completing CF83 form after returning to the UK

Hi there, I called HMRC the other day about NI and missing years that I could pay. Back in 2004 - 2011 I lived and worked abroad. At the time I didn't complete a CR83 form as I was unaware about it. The recent conversation with and the customer service representative revealed that I could try and pay class 2 contributions for those years if I completed the CF83 form. The issues are I don't have the exact dates anymore and I had 3 different jobs abroad during this time. Do the dates have to be exact and secondly do I need to fill in the form 3 times. The form is created in a way that you are completing it before you leave the country rather than in the past. Any help will be appreciated as I am not sure how to proceed. Many thanks

Hi Lisa Kandes,

The dates of your employment / self-employment abroad is important, and you will need to try and find out what the exact dates were.
If you can’t find this out you can provide us with approximate dates, but you must tell us this on your application.
You only need to complete one CF83, and you can enclose a covering letter to explain your personal situation.
Currently, you can only pay back for previous years going back to 2006-2007, it is too late to go back as far as 2004.
However, your application will need to be received by HMRC by 31 July 2023 for us to quote shortfalls from 2006-2007.
That is the deadline date for tax years from 2006-2007 to 2016-2017, after that you will no longer be able to pay for any shortfalls prior to the 2017-2018 tax year.

Thank you.
 

Thank you for your reply. That is helpful. I have contacted all my past employers to see if they can provide me with dates but they none of them have replied to me even after 2 weeks, so I don't expect to hear back from them now. I can hopefully provide approximate dates with a cover letter explaining everything. Many thanks again. 

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Hello, Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this but what part of the form do you actually fill in as it is kind of made for people who are currently working abroad. I lived in Spain from 2005 -2014 so have a big gap in my national insurance but I'm struggling to know how to fill in this form from a point of view of not actually working abroad at the moment. Thanks

Hi AndrewJohn14,

I am sorry that you are having difficulty completing form CF83 to enable advice for shortfalls in NI whilst you were abroad.  
The form CF83 is designed for applying for future Voluntary NICs whilst abroad, but many of the details eg. your period(s) abroad dates and employment
status is needed for confirming which Class (2 or 3) we can quote for shortfall periods.  
It is advisable, if you are applying for Class2 to include an Employment History with the application form.  
Please complete it as you are now returned to the UK and tick the box to request shortfall advice.  
You do not need to complete the Direct Debit Mandate.
Shortfall payments cannot be made by Direct Debit.  
Please include a separate letter with any additional information.

Thank you.

Thanks for the reply, i Just have a couple of questions regarding the form. You say answer the questions as if i have returned so for example section 2 about my absence abroad......do i answer the question of my address and planned time to stay abroad, as i had multiple address (which i cant remember) during my 12 year stay. Also section 3 about employment. do i answer it as in before i left for Spain or as of now, so my current employment. or do i just ignore these questions and just fill out personal details and tick class 2 and request shortfall and then supply a detailed letter about my time in Spain and all job information i can find. thanks

Hi,
At Section 2 of the CF83 application form if you could complete the box 7 with the name of the country that you went to, box 10 with the date you left the UK and box 11 the date you arrived back to the UK.  
Rather than complete Section 3 you could provide a covering note with the names of each employer that you had since you left the UK and the period with each employer (from … to …).
Thankyou

My wife had been away from UK for five years 2017-2022. (I had been employed outside UK during this period.) She has been unemployed throughout while in the UK and during the period abroad. She has been my dependent. She already has automatic enrolment for 3 years. She wants to pay voluntary contribution for the above period 2017-2022. Is she eligible for Class 2?

Hi Moideen Kunju Abdul Rahim,
If your wife was not employed or self-employed overseas then she will not be entitled to pay the voluntary class 2 contributions, she may, however, pay voluntary class 3 contributions.  
If she could send us a letter to detail her period overseas (from … to …) and the country involved, we will be able to update her National Insurance account and detail any voluntary contributions that she may pay.  She should also include her National Insurance Number and address.
Before deciding to pay voluntary contributions I would ask that she obtains a State Pension Forecast which will detail her current and future entitlement to a State Pension and will explain if it is worthwhile to pay voluntary contributions.  She may obtain this from: Check your State Pension forecast
Thank you.