Voluntary Overseas NI Contributions: 'registered unemployed'

[LeighP]

Hi,

New to forum, hoping someone can help me out with a NI query.

A good friend is moving, he has been receiving Jobseekers Allowance over here for 18 months and has been offered a job overseas.

I believed that to pay voluntary class 2 contributions he had to be paying class 1 or class 2 contributions within the week before moving however HMRC's NI38 dated September 09 says: "immediately before going abroad you were ordinarily an employed or self-employed earner or registered unemployed in the UK".

I wonder if this is related to the update they posted on 25 November 09: "Information for individuals who have previously applied to pay Class 2 voluntary contributions and had their application rejected due to not being employed/self employed immediately before leaving the UK."

I can't find any reference in either the HMRC guidance or the regs to allow for registered unemployed claiming, but obviously would save a huge amount of money compared with class 3.

Any suggestions very welcome

Leigh