You work hard. You pay tax. And after decades of grafting, we want you to have a decent State Pension and a comfortable retirement at the end of it. That’s why we’re increasing the State Pension by up to £575 in just a few weeks.
But access to the State Pension needs to be fair. The last government allowed some people living abroad, with little link to the UK, to build up entitlement on the cheap – sometimes paying as little as £182 a year in voluntary National Insurance to rack up pension rights after living in the UK for just three years.
So we’re changing the rules from April. First, people will need to have worked in the UK for ten years – up from three years. No more building up a British pension for people who’ve lived here just a few years.
Second, we’re ending access to the very cheap voluntary rate for most people abroad. Instead, they’ll have to pay the proper rate — at least £900 a year. This makes the cost much closer to what working people here effectively contribute.
This isn’t about stopping people overseas from getting any pension at all. If you’ve genuinely worked here and built a proper record, you should be able to claim what you’ve earned.
But if you want a UK state pension, you should have a real link to this country, and you should pay your fair share, like everyone else.
This is about basic fairness and protecting the state pension, so it’s there for the long haul. That’s how we make sure hard‑working people can retire with the security they’ve earned.
Under the new rules:
- Thousands of people living overseas will stop getting cheap state pensions through voluntary National Insurance Contributions (VNICs).
- People will have to pay at least £900 a year instead of previous £182.
- Those without a strong link to the UK will no longer be able to buy VNICs, with eligibility criteria increased from 3 to 10 years in the UK.
The state pension is outdated and unfair. From April, that will all change — Torston Bell | Getty Images
The current VNICs rules allow some people with a limited connection to the UK to build State Pension entitlement through Class 2 VNICs by voluntarily paying just £182 in National Insurance Contributions per year.
The Government is laying legislation to clamp down on this, preventing thousands of people who are not in the UK from building entitlement to a state pension far more cheaply than working people here.
As announced by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves at Budget 2025, the government is removing access to Class 2 VNICs for most people overseas. Those abroad will instead have to pay over £900 for Class 3 VNICs – nearly five times more than under current rules.
The Government is also closing the loophole that allows some people who have lived in the UK for just three years to build up State Pension entitlement. In future, only those who have been in the UK for 10 years will be able to build up a State Pension entitlement when living abroad.
The State Pension is the bedrock of the comfortable retirements we want British pensioners to enjoy. That is why we’re increasing the State Pension by 4.8 per cent, worth up to £575, in just a few weeks’ time.
But access to the State Pension needs to be fair. The last government allowed people with little link to the UK to build up entitlement on the cheap. So we’re acting.
No longer will thousands of people abroad be able to pay far less for a State Pension than those in the UK. And we’ll only allow people to choose to pay voluntary National Insurance Contributions abroad if they’ve spent at least 10 years in the UK.
These changes will be implemented from the new personal tax year on 6 April 2026 and will not impact the ability of anyone to purchase VNICs for tax years prior to 2026/27.
The Government is also launching a wider review of VNICs policy to ensure that the system is fair. This will include launching a call for evidence later this year.