National insurance number from abroad

Hi,

I am due to start uni in England in January. I live in Germany but have home student fee status. My finance was approved a few weeks ago.

I just received a letter from the student loans company asking me to provide a NIN or to apply for one if I don't have one. As I left the UK when I was a young child, I was never issued a NIN. The letter provides a link where you can apply for a NIN, but when I got to that page it tells me that I cannot use the site as applying for the NIN is only possible from the UK.

What am I meant to do?

Thank you.

Hi there,

Just to confirm are you applying for both the tuition fees and the maintenance loan? If so you'd need to have a National Insurance Number for us to pay you. When are you moving to the UK? Thanks, Jason

Hi Jason, yes, I've applied for both. My course starts on 8 January and I will be moving on 4 January, which is when the halls open.

Thank you. You would need to be living in the UK prior to the 1st of January 2024 if you're a January start. Have you been living in Germany permanently since you left the UK? Thanks, Jason

I've had a look through the SFE policy documents for practioners and couldn't find anything about this requirement, just that I have to have been resident in an EU country for the three years before the first day of the academic year. Could you please point me to the relevant part of the guidelines?

Can I just sort out the National Insurance Number once I'm there? I don't need the maintenance loan immediately.