Ordinarily Resident of the UK

[Bushiman]

I wonder if the fact you were studying before leaving had any effect.

Possibly... Even though I have 4 years of NI contributions, I have never had a full time job in the UK, only summer work or temping agency part time jobs. If I was making sufficient contributions from those I'd be very surprised seeing how irregular the hours were... Maybe if you're in full-time education, the contribution thresholds are much lower...

I'm so in shock about lucking out with class 2 repayments, I'm almost waiting for the letter/phonecall to say they made a mistake. I won't really be able to sleep easy until those Direct Debit repayments start early next month...

[goodandbadjapan]

I think when you are in full-time education you get full years' worth of contributions. When I check my records it says 'full year paid' for the years I was at university.

[Bushiman]

I think when you are in full-time education you get full years' worth of contributions.

I just checked my NI record online and my four complete years are from 1996~2000. In 1996 I was a high school student, then sixth form college till 1999... During that time, my only employment were summer jobs at the local veggie farm! For university I have two incomplete years!? Hahaha! Who knows what's going on...

[RetireJapan]

I have full years for my 6th form years (16-18) but nothing for university...

[goodandbadjapan]

Just double-checked and you are right - it's not for my university years, it's for my last three years of school. Well, the last of those I was in school and then in university, so who knows what counts! My full university years are not paid up.

[adamu]

Resurrecting this to point out that free school years are probably starter credits, which were discontinued in 2010.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... l/nim41210

[beanhead]

Resurrecting this to point out that free school years are probably starter credits, which were discontinued in 2010.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... l/nim41210

Thanks for that. Very useful to know.

[beanhead]

I'm so in shock about lucking out with class 2 repayments, I'm almost waiting for the letter/phonecall to say they made a mistake. I won't really be able to sleep easy until those Direct Debit repayments start early next month...

Same here. I got the back-payment sorted out quickly, in case they change their minds ...of course the Class 2 payments may not be an option in the future, as well, in which case we will all be paying Class 3.

[KCLenny]

So what exactly are we supposed to put for the “ordinarily resident” part?
I’m just filling out the form now, and have no idea. I’ve lived continuously in Japan for 2 years, have no intention of returning to the uk. Before moving here I was at university in uk for 3 years whilst also working part time. Before that I was on a student visa in Japan for 15 months or so. Before that working full time in uk for 1 year. Then before that I was on a working holiday visa in Japan for 1 year. Then before that working full time and part time jobs for about 5 years.
According to my hmrc record I have 7 full years of contributions.
So am I ordinarily resident in uk? I don’t really want to call them up as way too costly. Should I just leave it blank with a letter explaining the situation I just described?

[RetireJapan]

I don’t really want to call them up as way too costly.

Slightly off-topic, but you can use skype to call the UK for 2.5 yen per minute. That's how I dealt with HMRC and their endless phone loops.