Allocation of Number
People born and resident in the UK are assigned an NI number shortly before their 16th birthday. However, allocation of this number might occur a long time before this occasion (the date can usually be established from the prefix letters used), and siblings may have consecutive numbers - this is dependent on the payment of Child Benefit.
Persons from abroad who wish to work in the UK, or those to whom a number was not initially allocated as children, may apply for a number through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The prefixes used are typically different from those used in the normal run.
Read more about this topic: National Insurance Number
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