Changes to the UK’s voluntary National Insurance Contribution (NIC) rules since 6 April 2026 could have significant implications for employees working overseas and the employers supporting them.
Individuals on assignment outside the UK social security system may lose the ability to make voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 NICs contributions, potentially affecting future State Pension entitlement and benefit eligibility.
Now is the time to help your clients review their affected employee populations, assignment structures, and global mobility policies to understand the impact of the new rules and identify any action required before the changes take effect.
Read our breakdown to find out more.
Who should act now?
Employees (and employers covering payments on an employee’s behalf) on assignment who have not remained in the UK social security system need to consider:
- Do they need to make voluntary Class 2 or 3 NICs contributions for prior years?
- Do they remain eligible to make Class 3 NICs contributions?
- The impact, if any, of being unable to make voluntary NICs contributions
We recommend that you support your clients to review their global mobility policies and strategy to mitigate the impacts of these changes for employees going on assignment to a country without reciprocal social security agreements with the UK.
The Regulations (see resources below) make important changes to who can pay Class 2 and Class 3 National Insurance Contributions (“NICs”) while living outside of the UK.
What are Class 2 and Class 3 NICs?
Voluntary Class 2 NICs are traditionally meant for self-employed individuals who do not meet the small profits threshold (£6,845 in 2025/26) and Class 3 NICs is voluntary for those who do not meet threshold earnings for NICs purposes (£125 a week in 2025/26).
Individuals are able to fill gaps in their national insurance record (necessary to be eligible for the UK state pension and certain other benefits) going back up to six tax years by making these contributions.
Until now, both Class 2 and Class 3 NICs have been available to individuals living outside of the UK and who are outside of the social security system who wish to make voluntary NICs contributions.
The new Regulations change who can make voluntary Class 2 and 3 NICs contributions.
What is changing?
Individuals living outside of the UK:
- Will not be able to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs unless an exception applies
- Will be restricted from paying voluntary Class 3 NICs unless:
- They have lived in the UK for 10 consecutive years;
- Have made 10 qualifying years’ worth of NICs; or,
- An exception applies.
These changes will apply to contributions for the 2026/27 tax year onwards.
What are the exceptions?
Before 6 April, individuals could still make Class 2 and 3 NICs contributions for prior tax years.
As of6 April, individuals can still pay Class 3 NICs under the existing rules, provided they have:
- Made contributions (Class 2, 3 or both) for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 tax years before the earlier of the Class 3 NICs payment for 2026/27 and 6 April 2027; and
- The 52-week rule does not apply to the individual (i.e. a person leaves the UK to go to a country without a reciprocal agreement and is allowed to remain in the UK social security system for the first 52 weeks).
Individuals will need to notify HMRC to take advantage of this.
Certain low paid self-employed workers covered by a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK and certain volunteer development workers will be unaffected by these changes.
How can Corridor help?
We are here to provide a guiding hand to help you help your clients stay on top of their global mobility policies. Contact us sfor support today.
Resources
The Social Security (Contributions) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/294) (the “Regulations”), found here (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/294/made).
