Query - European teenager in UK and National Insurance number

[LadyPeachums]

Any advice, please? My grandchild is a Polish national but has always lived in the UK, and has rights to reside as with her Polish mother. She is now 17 and about to start a job - but has no National Insurance number. Can anyone advise how to go about dealing with this? The gov.uk page has an employer helpline number, but no details about how a young person as an employee, can help address the situation. Thank you

You can apply online.
https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number/how-to-apply

Only those whose parents claimed child benefit will automatically get a NINO at 16. So this is not uncommon.

Your grandchild should also consider applying for British citizenship.

The gov.uk page also has this: https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number/how-to-apply, which is the second link from this page: https://www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number

This one is guided towards the young person. It seems like she didn't receive one automatically because there was no child benefit claimed from the state for her by her parents.

You might be able to apply for British citizenship by ‘naturalisation’ if you’re over 18 years old and you either:

• moved to the UK
• were born in the UK

Naturalisation is the most common way to get citizenship if you were born outside the UK and don’t have a British parent.

You can usually apply for British citizenship 12 months after getting one of the following:

• settled status - from the EU Settlement Scheme
• indefinite leave to remain
• an EU right of permanent residence - you must also have pre-settled status

If you have an EU right of permanent residence, you'll need to prove this when you apply for British citizenship - it can be difficult to prove. Talk to an adviser before you apply.

You also need to have:

• lived in the UK over the past 5 years
• passed the Life in the UK Test
• a qualification that shows you speak and understand English - unless you’re exempt
• ‘good character’ - for example, you've had no recent or serious criminal convictions, or problems with debts, unpaid taxes or immigration

If they do it when they turn 18, they can then access student finance for student loans to go to Uni in the U.K.