On behalf of my American wife.

Last activity 19 June 2023 by Voyager_2002

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andy63New member04 June 2023 04:56:38

Hi All, my first post here, not sure if Im at the right place but here goes : Im English, American wife, living and working here in England, been here since 2010, All correct visa's etc. Question is we are both in our 60's and want to find out if my wife can claim a state pension when she reaches retirement age in 2 years time. Neither of us have private pensions, so currently I claim state pension, my wife works part time, minimum wage, 12 hours a week. We have tried the gov.uk website but not sure if she can make an account as she is an American citizen as we want to look to see if she can claim a pension when she reaches retirement age.

fleur3Member04 June 2023 16:21:05

Your wife can open an account on the GOV.UK website... you don't have to be British to do that. She can then check her national insurance contributions record and see how many qualifying years she has. But you need 35 years to get the full pension and at least 10 to get anything at all.

danicaliMember06 June 2023 05:51:44

@andy63

why didnt she become a british citizen? just asking.

Voyager_2002Active member19 June 2023 18:40:18

British citizenship costs something like £2,000 pounds, but does give access to means-tested benefits such as Pension Credit. Even at this stage it would be worth doing your sums and see if naturalisation is financially worthwhile.

And I doubt if simply checking her online national insurance contributions would give an accurate answer: I think you will need to telephone the Future Pensions people. Getting them to answer the 'phone is quite a mission so try early in the morning.

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