I don't have the National Insurance Number....

Hello,

I am about to apply for naturalization, on the grounds of 5 years ILR + marriage to the British Citizen. I know, I should have done it earlier, would have been cheaper and easier, but I didn't think about it, as I have another passport with which I can travel freely just about everywhere, so I kind of didn't bother. But now my passport (with ILR visa in it) is expiring, and I thought, instead of paying 160 quid for transferring the stamp, it is more useful to get the british passport. And I am sick of those immigration queues at Heathrow (who isn't?).

I was just looking at the application form, and it is asking for the NIN. Well, I never had one as I haven't been employed since moving to the UK, but I also never claimed social security, so I never had a need to apply for NIN.

Will I need this number in order to apply for naturalization?

Also, has anyone here had to attend the interview in order to get the passport? What does it entail?

Thank you very much in anticipation of your replie(s),
Piglet

If you dont have a NIN then you can leave it blank and maybe write in, you don't have one

If you look at the questions carefully on the form, it asks that, "National Insurance Number IF you have one".

In your case, you do not have one so you write "N/A" in that part and move on.

jes2jes wrote:If you look at the questions carefully on the form, it asks that, "National Insurance Number IF you have one".

In your case, you do not have one so you write "N/A" in that part and move on.

The Home Office may well wonder how a naturalisation applicant could have lived in the U.K. for so long without one.

Hi, thanks for your answers everyone here.

I had no idea I had to have one to live here, I think it is for work/claiming public funds, which I haven't done while living here. My husband earns very well and this allowed me to choose whether to work or not, so I just choose not to work. But if I have to work I will, I never ever claimed any public funds (I was continuously employed in the past for over 10 years, but in Australia, not here, hence I don't have NIN).
Thank you for your replies, I'll just live it blank.

leave it blank, not *live* it blank

piglet wrote:
I had no idea I had to have one to live here

You don't, don't worry, you've done nothing wrong.

Victoria

Hi

I seem to be in the same boat, when I arrived here six years ago I got given a temporary number by an agency so never really bothered to get one. I put the temp number (TN birthdate followed by M) on my application. Will my application take longer or even rejected because of this. By the way how many applications fail each month and why????

Why not get one?

If you have been paying emergency tax all these years you could be in for a nice windfall.


Victoria

Victoria

I will be applying for one shortly, it doesnt look like ive been paying emergency tax though, I have gone on a few websites tax calculators and all of them say basically nothing is due back, at the end of the day will this affect my application for citizenship or have I got nothing to worry about????

It is probably worth applying for a national insurance number in any case. But don't worry about it for the application. It is not a requirement for naturalization!

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:It is probably worth applying for a national insurance number in any case. But don't worry about it for the application. It is not a requirement for naturalization!

It could very well be a factor if the Home Office is unable to verify your tax records with Inland Revenue for the character checks!

Dawie wrote:

Directive/2004/38/EC wrote:It is probably worth applying for a national insurance number in any case. But don't worry about it for the application. It is not a requirement for naturalization!

It could very well be a factor if the Home Office is unable to verify your tax records with Inland Revenue for the character checks!

Except no income might = no tax returns anyway?

I'm referring to the case of the poster who only has a temporary NI number. If this poster states that he is employed on his naturalisation form and then quotes his temporary NI number, the fact that he has been working on a temporary NI number for 6 years might raise a few flags!

Dawie wrote:I'm referring to the case of the poster who only has a temporary NI number. If this poster states that he is employed on his naturalisation form and then quotes his temporary NI number, the fact that he has been working on a temporary NI number for 6 years might raise a few flags!

OK. Yes. Although the main loser is probably the holder of the number, who may have been paying emergency tax (so-called) for all those years...

Ok, so I havent applied for one and there is not much I can do about it now as I have sent my application in, what is worst case scenario??? Will my application get rejected because of this. Just wondering how many people fail to get BC and why???

Whether you have a temporary NIC number or an NIC number, you should still have P60's, so I can't see why it would make much difference. As Christophe said, you would probably be paying the higher rate of tax anyhow.

If the number you gave them is yours and you have been using it all this time, then I doubt it will be a problem. Worst case is it might cause a delay to your application.

You should apply for a normal NI number. And then send a letter to the nationality directorate mentioning your normal NI number.

Don’t worry. It just all takes a long long time. It is a funny process.

QUOTE:

Except no income might = no tax returns anyway?

Yes, this applies in my case. I have been fully supported by mu husband, and they can always check his earnings and tax records as a proof that he is more then able to do so.
Perhaps in case of males it is a bit harder to prove what they lived of, as they are not usually supported by their wives (but some probably are), so each case is probably very individual. I don't know, all I know is that I really didn't know anything about NIN before I had to write this application!