Employment record as a full time PhD student?

cs95tdg wrote:Did you have a national insurance number (NI) during the time you were paid by the university while a PhD student?

cs95tdg wrote:As you have a NI number, just a suggestion to verify if you have a HMRC NI contribution history over the last 10 years, even if you paid no taxes. You should be able to do this by registering online for a personal tax account using your NI number. You can then see if you have any NI contributions logged against any tax year from the date you first got your NI number. Google personal tax account to find the url to register/login.

I did this earlier in the year and could see the overall contribution figures for each of the years where I was a student in the past and had worked. All subsequent years where I had not worked were also visible with no contributions.

Intrepid V wrote:Do I have to state NI contributions on my application?

cs95tdg wrote:

Intrepid V wrote:Do I have to state NI contributions on my application?

As far as I've seen its not required to be stated on the form. But if you read the AN form guidance (& if not Id suggest that you do so) you'll see it says you must provide details of all your NI contributions made for your current and previous employment during the past 10 years. This is where they refer to P60's and payslips or employer letters as evidence.

As you say you don't have p60's, my thought was that the personal tax account would be another way of verifying whether you do or don't have a HMRC NI employment history.

Intrepid V wrote:Perhaps because I received my NI number on a letter when I obtained my ILR back in 2004, and they haven't updated the records? (This letter is the only written document I ever had that states my NI number).

By the way, if it turns out that officially I don't have HMRC NI employment history, would I still have to state that I did this work at my university, or could I just leave that section blank?

cs95tdg wrote:

Intrepid V wrote:Perhaps because I received my NI number on a letter when I obtained my ILR back in 2004, and they haven't updated the records? (This letter is the only written document I ever had that states my NI number).

Am slightly confused by this underlined statement, or it may be I'm misreading what you attempted to say. Your NI number wouldn't have been issued as part of your ILR application. It's something you need to apply for independently - normally through job centre plus and is not linked to the HO immigration application process in that way. Additionally, I'm assuming you obtained ILR at a later date, not while you were working as a PhD student with limited leave to remain. So the question is whether you in fact did have an NI number at that time, as from what I understand it appears that you may have only obtained one at a later time? Probably best if you clarify.

Intrepid V wrote:I was in UK since 1997 as a child (my mother claimed asylum). In 2004 I and my mother were granted ILR due to a government amnesty. I received this via a letter from Home Office. Together with ILR, I received a SEPARATE letter stating my NI number. These documents are separate, of course - I just meant that they were sent at the same time in the same envelope. I guess that was the standard at the time due to that government amnesty - the authority just bundled all the documents together and sent them out to successful claimants.

So to clarify: I had ILR and NI number since 2004. I received them both on the same date. At the time I was 17 years old.

I went to university in 2005 for my first degree. Then started my PhD in 2010.

Intrepid V wrote:Hello. My situation is this. I have been in UK since 1997 (when I was a child). My mother moved here with me then and claimed asylum approximately two weeks later after arriving in UK. Our country's passport allowed us to fly freely into UK (visa was not required).

In 2004, me and my mother were granted ILR due to a certain government amnesty. The ILR was in the form of a letter sent by post. I have never put the ILR stamp in my passport. When I travel abroad, I show them the ILR letter.

(Our individual asylum case had no relevance to the government amnesty, many families that satisified certain criteria received ILR at the time.)

Now I intend to apply for naturalisation. Three questions:

1) The date of arrival into UK. Is this the date when my mother and me physically arrived at the UK border, or when she claimed asylum?

2) How to prove that I was in UK legally from 1997 till 2004 (when I received ILR)? I don't have any official paperwork relevant to me from that time. My mother only kept some "identity"-type document she was given at Home Office when she claimed asylum (this document is double sided, one side has her photograph, the reverse has my photograph, and some basic personal information, and states the date when we arrived in UK). I wouldn't have any legal paperwork dating back to that time anyway, since I was a little child. Is this document enough to prove my legal status in UK prior to receipt of ILR?

3) Should I explicitly clarify (say write a covering letter) explaining my immigration status from 1997-2004, or is that not required? Especially given that I was still 17 years of age when I received ILR in 2004?

I could also try to obtain old school attendance records, but that may take time and I don't really want to waste time and energy obtaining documents that are not required.

Intrepid V wrote:I verified my employment record as a PhD student with both universities. Indeed, I have a record stating that I did ad-hoc work as a demonstrator. However my official occupation is a PhD student. I did not pay any Income tax, but I paid national insurance contributions.

My last job (at my present university finished in May 2015. I am still present as a PhD student here, but not doing any demonstrating work. Officially, all this time I am /was a "Postgraduate Research Student", so this is what I will put in Question 1.45. However, given that I was temporarily employed by the university, what do I put in Questions 1.46 -1.49? Do I leave them blank? Should I enter a tax ref office number for the last work I did in May 2015?