How do you get a MAT1B form if you live abroad?

[AnonymousXXIX]

Hi,

I am employed in the UK (and pay taxes in the UK) but live abroad and am seeing my GP abroad... but my employer insists on a UK MATB1 form for my maternity pay application. Nothing else will do. Has anyone else had this issue?

Is it possible to privately pay a UK clinic/GP to do my MATB1 form? If so, does anyone have any suggestions on who I can contact? Or do you reckon I would have any luck ringing my old UK GP to ask for assistance? (Somehow I doubt that they would want to/be able to help.)

I can obviously provide all the required information through my actual doctor, they have said they are able to provide an official letter etc. If I had to go to the UK to see someone... I can't until I am about 26 weeks pregnant, which is leaving it a little late!

Err, help!

Your employer is wrong. The Gov.uk site states that a letter from your doctor is sufficient.

"You need to give your employer proof of the pregnancy to get SMP. You do not need it for maternity leave.

Within 21 days of your SMP start date (or as soon as possible if the baby’s born early) give your employer either:

a letter from your doctor or midwife
your MATB1 certificate - doctors and midwives will give you this no more than 20 weeks before the due date."

https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/how-to-claim

Yeah I know they are wrong, but they are still refusing to accept anything else. I definitely do not want to get myself into an argument with HR, that would not work out in my favour, so the best solution is to just find a way to get my hands on one of these forms.

It is highly unlikely you will get a MAT form without being under nhs/private care in the UK. They will need to have examined you to confirm the pregnancy and gestation. The only option would be for you to fly here and sign up to your old GP if they allow it. Depends how long you have lived abroad for.

Whether you can claim smp depends on where you live, in the EU you can play a few other places as long as they are paying ni for you. But not all countries. If you aren't eligible you don't needs a mat 1b

You should try a private GP, online, it certainly wouldn't be an NHS service to provide a non-NHS patient for such a form

My wife and I are expecting our first child at the end of september. I'm english, I live and work in England and my wife is Peruvian and at the moment she is in Peru. How can I get a Matb1 form for my paternity leave without her being in England? We plan for the baby to be born in Peru. I know that one option is for her to come to here and have hospital visits here and get the form from a midwife but timing and money is a bit of an issue at the moment as we only found out that she is pregnant the day after our wedding. If timing was on our side, she would have her spouse visa and be living in England by now so it would be straight forward.

You dont need a matb1 for paternity leave

https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave/how-to-claim

Hi, I am in the same situation as your currently. Did you find a way of getting around this?

Hello there!

I am EXACTLY in the same situation and I really don't know how to sort this out. I am living abroad (Italy) and working for a UK based company for 4 years now. I decided to give birth in Italy so I cannot attend the appointments in the UK.

Did you find any solution for the MAT B1? Can we get a doctor's letter from our home country, instead of from the UK?

Please let me know any further updates, thank you so much!

I had this when I lived in Belgium working for a UK company and paying NI in the UK (I had one of the old E certificates allowing me to do this pre-Brexit). I used a letter from my Belgian GP and that was acceptable.

Hi I am in the same circumstance, did you mange to find a solution.
Starting week 23..
Working in Uk but doing all medical stuff in Barcelona..

Any help is appreciate it! :D
thank you

Hi Sil,
Any updates on your end?
I am in the same situation...
Thanks!!

Hi! I couldn’t find a solution as it seems we need that MAT B1 or a medical certificate from Uk itself and I don’t really know how to get it :(

Register with a midwife here and fly over for a visit? If you still have an address here that I'd.. I relocated home while pregnant and intended to give birth here and I did but I did my early medical appointments where I was seconded overseas and registered with my. midwife here late

Hi,

I had my anomaly scan when I was 19 weeks and 3 days, and travelled abroad the day after. I also had all my antenatal appointments including the anomaly scan in the UK.
I've tried to ring the midwives to issue my MatB1 certificate but they said I have to come in to collect it, but I can't if I'm abroad. And I'm not sure if I will be in the country for the rest of my pregnancy.

What's the best way forward?

Hello, you can try to use the medical certificate from a Doctor or a midwife in your home country, and see if they can accept it in the UK.