Working in the UK for an employer based in another EEA country
If you usually work for an employer in another EEA country
- who sends you to work in the UK for not more than 12 months; and
- you are not sent to take the place of someone else who works for the employer and who has come to the end of the time they have to spend here, and
- the insurance authorities in the other EEA country are satisfied your employer meets certain conditions including having significant business activities there.
you will still be insured with the other EEA country. You will not have to pay UK contributions.
Your employer in the other EEA country must obtain form E101 in your name from the insurance authorities of the other EEA country. Form E101 tells us that you will continue to be insured under the other country's social security scheme. If you do not have a form E101, there may be a demand for you to pay UK contributions.
It may happen that your job in the UK lasts longer than 12 months, although you did not expect it to. You can carry on being insured under the other EEA country's scheme for not more than another 12 months. However, the HM Revenue and Customs must agree to this extra time.
Before the end of the first 12 months your employer in the other EEA country should obtain form E102 from the insurance authorities of the country where your contributions are being paid. They can then use form E102 to ask for you to carry on being insured in the other EEA country. They should send the form to the HMRC Residency.
Your work in the UK may still not be finished when the second 12 months is over. Or you may not be allowed to stay insured under the scheme of the other EEA country after the end of the first 12 months. If so, you must start paying contributions to the UK scheme. If you are not covered by the rules described in this section and you work for an employer in the UK, you will usually have to pay UK contributions as soon as you start work. To do so, you must have a UK NI number.
If you do not have a UK NI number, you must apply for one in person, as soon as possible, at a Jobcentre Plus office. They can tell you more about paying contributions in the UK.
