Guidance

Get a PDU1 certificate or a National Insurance contributions statement

Apply online for a PDU1 certificate for unemployment benefit if you live or will be living abroad or for a paper statement of your National Insurance contributions.

Use this form to apply for a PDU1 certificate to support an unemployment benefit claim in:

  • the EU
  • Norway
  • Iceland
  • Switzerland
  • Liechtenstein

You can also use this form to get a paper statement of your National Insurance contributions for your own records.

Before you start

You can only apply for a PDU1 certificate if you’re already living outside the UK or plan to move within the next 2 weeks.

If you apply for a PDU1 certificate, you’ll be asked for:

  • a document showing the reason you left your previous employment in the last 3 years, for example, a letter terminating your contract
  • evidence of your earnings from your most recent job, for example, a final payslip, P60 or P45

You’ll also need to know the dates you were a resident in the UK and periods of self employment or UK employment in the last 3 years, including:

  • your employer’s addresses
  • gaps in your employment

If you were claiming Jobseekers Allowance and or Universal Credit, you’ll need to know the date of your last claim period.

Apply online

You’ll need to sign in with your Government Gateway user ID and password.

If you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you first try to sign in. If you do not have a UK postcode, you’ll need to know your National Insurance number to sign in for the first time.

It can take up to 6 weeks to process your application and post your PDU1 certificate or National Insurance contributions statement.

Start now

Apply by post

  1. Get all of your information together before you start. You will fill this form in online and you cannot save your progress.

  2. Fill in form CA3916.

  3. Print and post it to HMRC (alongside any supporting evidence), using the postal address given at the end of the form.

This file may not be suitable if you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader). If you need a more accessible format, email different.format@hmrc.gov.uk and tell us what format you need. It will help if you tell us what assistive technology you use. Read the accessibility statement for HMRC forms.

Published 2 June 2014
Last updated 28 March 2024 + show all updates
  1. Information about when you can apply for a PDU1 certificate or a National Insurance contributions statement and when to expect a PDU1 certificate or National Insurance contributions statement to be processed and posted has been added.

  2. First published.