SusieT

Gary has covered most things, but if you pay class 3, the year 2019/2020 will cost £780.00 and similarly the year 2020/2021 will cost £795.60 and then all previous years are charged at the current rate of £800.80 so its a few £ in your pocket. It is then just a case of doing the maths to see how many other years you need to get the 35 full years before you want for your German pension, and paying them either annually or monthly by direct debit. 

If you are certain that you need more years (and it appears that you are), then payment of the prior 2 years, or topping up a part paid year are the first to do since the prior 2 tax years are charged at the rate for that year, whereas before that are charged at the current rate.  The reference number is your NI number then IC surname initial with no spaces. I will do a photo of a letter I received from them so that you can see what they wanted, and it also gives the correct bank details (please check with google or whatever that I have not photoshopped my own onto it before paying!!). At the moment, a full year will cost about £780 and will give you a fraction over £5 a week extra so will pay itself in a few years. Current full pension is £179.60 a week. I am waiting for HMRC to update mine and then I will double check and pay the final bit so that I can sit back and know its sorted out.   

This thread has made me think, since Marmite has a lot of vitamins, would it be possible to have a livable diet of wholemeal toastie with a marmite, cheese and onion filling 

Snowing again is nearly correct re the S1. S1 is given to British pensioners when the state pension starts. However, if you also receive a pension from the country in which you are resident (DE) then that country (DE) is responsible for your health insurance and the S1 from Britain is not allowed. So, the question re the S1 is do you have a German pension as well as the British one, as I know some self employed do not have one? 

It may have been something as simple as the person at the office failing to tick the box for you, but I hope you get an answer and they correct it for you.

It is worth printing out the page about Brexit on the BMI page, that can help them understand the situation from a source that they know is official. There are other references but that one seems to be the best and easiest o understand.

That involves thinking outside of their rules and regulations books    I would guess that with covid and brexit they have more than enough work to do and are hoping people will hear by word of mouth, then when things get back to whatever normal will be, they will have forgotten about it!

I had different problems! My language is improving, since I decided to ignore the order of words and which der die and das etc. goes with them I am learning more words more easily, so the vocabulary is getting a lot bigger, but the grammar stays the same. It works better for me and the people I see on a day to day basis understand me so its a lot more relaxed now in my little world 

I know the feeling only too well  

That is fine, the letter is proof that you have notified them, therefore you can wait for the appointment. The document cannot say that you can officially stay until you have had  the appointment and given them your fingerprints. You have done all that is legally required of you, they cannot make you leave and you will get the card (a couple of months) after they have sorted their problems out and seen you. You can officially relax and at some point later this year you will be seen  

You only need to notify them that you were in Germany before 31 Dec by end of June. Therefore you have done what is required and will be ok.  Once you get the appointment and they have your signature, fingerprint etc. you can ask for a fiktionsbeschinigung (sp) if you need to prove that you have the right to stay before the card is issued. The person at the ausanderamt cannot state that you will be allowed to stay until you have your appointment, but it would have helped if he had told you that you will have no problem and to bear with them until they can see you.  You have done all you need to do, and you have no problem so relax! Some places are going to be seeing people next year for appointments at the current rate of progress   

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56829289

Good. I have just seen the news, its a start but a long way to go to solve the problem

Where I am   Anywhere away from cities and big towns, trains and major transport links. An airport within an hour is acceptable!

My normal postman delivered it for me