National Insurance Number Card

Can anyone tell me how to apply for a N.I. #?  I called the Inland Revenue 800 number and they told me to call job center plus???    Has anyone have any information on this before I start making a 1000 unnecessary calls and surf through the web for hours?  Thanks

Go to your local tax office. Ask for an application or better yet, if you just call them, they'll take your info over the phone and within a few days you'll get a letter telling you when your appointment is.

I was told to contact the same place for our area. I did phone our local office (I found the number in the phone book – after  spending a lot of time searching the web and phoning the wrong numbers   ) and they told me that they won’t even start the process until I have a job. Once I have a job, I phone them back, they take some initial information; schedule me for an appointment where they will take more information, yadda, yadda, yadda

You can apply for a number if you're looking for work. You will have to prove that you are (ie cv, rejection letters etc etc.)

But it really isn't a big deal if you're on a temporary number for a short time. Your employer provides that number. The only thing is they're taking a stupid amount of taxes and it'll be a year or so or more before you get it back.

I too thought that I could apply - which I learned from this website and it also states so on their website. The lady on the phone said that I could not.  I didn’t push the issue. Do you know what percentage they take out while you have your temporary number?

I think it's somewhere around 40%, but don't hold me to that.

You do get the money you overpaid back. But don't hold your breath, they like to take their time.

Like I said before, I got my NI number whilst looking for work.  Which was good as I took a temp job from one firm and had an actual NI number to start with.  Then when I stopped with them I got a P45 and was able to give the next temp agency the right paperwork from the outset.  I felt so "official"!  

I think it's somewhere around 40%, but don't hold me to that.

You do get the money you overpaid back. But don't hold your breath, they like to take their time.

I'm glad someone did, because I didn't get diddley squat back.  In fact, my taxes never seemed to change and I was still paying the same amount, so why that was I guess I'll never know.

I'm glad someone did, because I didn't get diddley squat back.  In fact, my taxes never seemed to change and I was still paying the same amount, so why that was I guess I'll never know.

Speak to your HR department about that. They're the ones who deal with your taxes. Ask them why they're taking out so much, have them explain it to you.

http://www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/cms.asp?Page=/Home/AboutUs/OurOffices

Here's the link to find your nearest Jobcentre Plus Office, which is where they handle this junk. I went in a few days after I got my 1st job, the accounting people at the job know how to set people up with temporary numbers, and I got my real number quite quickly after that, maybe 4 weeks? The interview was long and you have to remember every single date of every time you've bene back to the states, so be prepared! I posted a while back about my interview if you can find the thread...  :-/

Speak to your HR department about that. They're the ones who deal with your taxes. Ask them why they're taking out so much, have them explain it to you.

I did and got no joy.

Thanks for the wealth of information.  I think I'm just going to wait until I get something.  I can't be bothered with interviews, dates and stuff like that at this time.  I'll let my employer handle it when the time comes and grill them about how much they're taking out and why..  Besides the money I made in NYC won't even match half of what I would make here and then you have the taxes!!  I might as well get a "fun job" instead of something I did back home.  At least back home I had an awesome salary even though I did get killed iwth taxes it still looked great on the paper and tax returns were something to look forward to.  Here I don't even want to think about what I would be making.  It's heartbreaking and defeating so why even go for high-leveled E.A. position it really wouldn't be worth it (for me anyway)..  Thanks again for all the information.  I'll keep it on file..