Form

Tell HMRC if you're sending employees to work abroad (CA3821)

Apply to find out if your employee needs to continue paying UK National Insurance contributions while they work temporarily in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Liechtenstein.

Documents

Apply online if you're an employer

Apply online if you're an agent

Apply by post

Details

You or your agent should apply online or by post if you’re sending one or more employees to work temporarily in a country within the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Liechtenstein.

How to apply

If your business has been trading in the UK for less than 18 months you will need to include additional information with your application, for example a sample of invoices or contracts from the last 2 months. These can be submitted with your online application or included with your postal application.

How to use the online form

If you are:

  • an employer, use the online form

  • an agent, use the Agents online form

You’ll need to either:

  • 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)

  • use your email address to get a confirmation code that you can use to sign in

How to use the print and post form

You will fill this form in online and you cannot save your progress. It is best to get all of your information together before you start.

If the form does not open, contact online services for more help.

Check when you can expect a reply

You can check when you can expect a reply from HMRC about the application that you have submitted.

Published 4 April 2014
Last updated 1 December 2023 + show all updates
  1. A new section has been included so that you can check when you can expect a reply from HMRC after you've applied.

  2. More information about if your business has been trading in the UK for less than 18 months has been added.

  3. The Welsh version of the 'apply by post' form has been updated.

  4. This has been updated following the announcement of the UK’s deal with the EU. Apply to find out if your employee needs to continue paying UK National Insurance contributions while they work temporarily in the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Liechtenstein

  5. Changes to clarify that you or your agent can use the online form service or postal form to tell HMRC you're sending your employees to work abroad.

  6. Agent apply online (sign in or setup a Government Gateway account) link added to the page.

  7. Welsh translation added to the page.

  8. An online service is now available.

  9. First published.