SIPPs for non-UK residents and international SIPP providers

A SIPP for non-UK residents turns on the provider as much as on HMRC. Here is what AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and interactive investor say.

If you are looking for a SIPP for non-UK residents, or an "international SIPP", no single list answers it, and a provider's rules can differ from the next one's. Residence in another country can also change what you can pay in, how money reaches you and what a move to an overseas scheme would cost. Moving soon, or already away? Our form on this page collects your dates and provider; an FCA-authorised adviser telephones afterwards, with no fee.

Two sets of rules, and which one decides

HMRC decides who can get UK tax relief on contributions to a registered scheme such as a SIPP. The provider decides whom it will accept, what it will do once you live abroad and how it will pay you. A person can satisfy HMRC and still be turned away by a platform, so the provider's own terms are the place to look.

This guide ranks no one: how to compare SIPPs covers comparison, and the SIPP guide explains what a SIPP is. For the State Pension and the tax on a UK pension paid abroad, see what happens to a pension when you move abroad.

What three providers say on their own pages

These are readings of published documents on the dates shown, not a survey. Terms change, and a provider can apply them differently from how they read, so confirm with the firm before acting.

AJ Bell

AJ Bell's terms and conditions (print code AJBYI/T&Cs/20260905, September 2026) have two clauses that a reader abroad should read together. Clause 24.1 says "You must be a UK resident for tax purposes to open an AJ Bell SIPP", and clause 1.5 says each SIPP account holder must be UK resident for tax purposes "at the time of submitting the Application and at all times while the Account is open". Clause 24.9 covers a member who moves abroad: they must tell AJ Bell straight away, and "In most instances, you can continue to make Payments" for five tax years after the tax year in which they cease to be UK resident. The terms state both positions; how they apply to a particular member is a question for AJ Bell. Under clause 24.8 it cannot open a SIPP for a Canadian citizen or someone resident in Canada for tax purposes.

Hargreaves Lansdown

Hargreaves Lansdown's moving-abroad help page (read 20 October 2026, no date shown) is written for its accounts in general and does not name the SIPP. It says that anyone who can prove they still live in the European Economic Area can add money, trade and open accounts, whereas outside that area "You will not be able to keep adding money to your accounts", unless a Crown employee, although trading continues under its terms. Becoming a tax resident elsewhere means no new accounts can be opened, and HL will ask for a Tax Identification Number. Its SIPP key features (correct as at 2 April 2026) say "You must typically live in the UK when you start the SIPP", and tell anyone "subject to non-UK jurisdictions, such as the USA" to be aware of non-UK reporting or tax requirements. How the general help page applies to a SIPP held from abroad is one to confirm with HL.

interactive investor

interactive investor's SIPP guide (read 20 October 2026) says "Any UK resident aged between 18 and 75 can open and contribute to a SIPP." What happens to a member who later moves abroad is a question to put to ii directly. Its rates and charges document (last updated 1 October 2026) lists an additional charge for non-UK residents of £5 per month, to cover operational costs. The full interactive investor fee guide covers the rest.

Vanguard, Fidelity and other platforms each set their own rules for members abroad; fill in the form and an FCA-authorised adviser can explain where yours stands, free. Their charges are in Vanguard SIPP fees and Fidelity SIPP fees.

Tax relief on contributions once you live abroad

The rule sits in section 189 of the Finance Act 2004, which HMRC's Pensions Tax Manual (PTM044100) applies to people who leave. A person is a "relevant UK individual" for a tax year if, among other routes, they have relevant UK earnings chargeable to income tax, are UK resident at some time in that year, or were UK resident at some time in the five tax years before it and when they became a member of the scheme. Relief is then limited by section 190: the larger of the person's relevant UK earnings or the "basic amount", which section 190 puts at £3,600. The manual adds that someone who has left the UK can also qualify for relief on contributions up to that £3,600.

Three points follow. The route for people who have left needs both conditions, so someone who joined while already living abroad does not meet it on residence alone. Pension income is not earnings for this purpose, and earnings that a double taxation arrangement stops the UK from taxing are treated as not chargeable, so neither counts. Relief on the part of a contribution above a person's earnings, up to £3,600, can only be given where the scheme uses relief at source, which is how personal pensions such as SIPPs work: the provider claims 20% from HMRC and adds it to the pot. HL's key features put the £3,600 in gross terms. How relief works for UK taxpayers generally is in pension tax relief, and the position with little or no income is in tax relief with no income.

Relief is a UK tax matter only. Whether your new country gives anything for the same payment, or taxes the growth, is for advice there, and the provider's own terms on paying in apply alongside HMRC's. Anyone unsure whether to keep paying in could raise it with an adviser: the form on this page lets one from an FCA-authorised firm return your call, free.

Getting paid, and in which currency

AJ Bell's terms say withdrawals "can only be made from your Account in Cash, in pounds sterling", and that to pay them by electronic transfer you "must provide us with details of a nominated UK bank account in your name". For a member living abroad that is a practical point to settle before any money is drawn: a UK account may need to stay open, and any conversion into the currency where you live happens after the payment leaves the SIPP. How HL and ii pay members abroad depends on each firm, so ask them, or raise it with the adviser on your free call-back. Tax on money taken out is in UK pension tax if you live abroad.

Beyond the general questions in the moving-abroad guide, two are specific to SIPP platforms: is there an extra charge for non-UK residents (ii lists one), and what tax paperwork will you need, such as a tax identification number or, for anyone connected with the USA, US forms.

If the plan is to move the SIPP to an overseas scheme

Some members abroad weigh leaving the SIPP where it is against sending it to a qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS). For a SIPP the cost question is the overseas transfer charge in sections 244AA to 244AC of the Finance Act 2004, which replaced section 244A from 2024-25. GOV.UK says the charge is 25% of the whole amount where no exemption applies, and 25% of anything above the overseas transfer allowance (usually £1,073,100) where one does. The exemptions, and what a later move does to them, are in which countries have QROPS; what makes a scheme qualify is in QROPS and ROPS.

The FCA warns that pension scams often come as attractive offers to move a pot, so read its pension scams page and our scams guide before answering one. Whether moving is worth it at all is a separate judgement, and QROPS or an international SIPP is the guide to start with. Investments held in a SIPP can fall as well as rise in value, and you may get back less than was paid in.

Questions about SIPPs and living abroad

Can I keep an AJ Bell SIPP if I move abroad?

AJ Bell's terms of September 2026 say you must tell it straightaway, and that in most instances you can keep making payments for five tax years after the tax year in which you stop being UK resident. They also say AJ Bell cannot open a SIPP for a Canadian citizen or resident. Ask AJ Bell what applies to you.

Can I keep a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP if I live abroad or am a US citizen?

HL's help page lets people in the EEA keep adding money but not those living elsewhere, and its April 2026 key features tell anyone subject to non-UK jurisdictions, such as the USA, to check reporting and tax requirements. How HL treats a US citizen with a SIPP is a question to put to HL directly.

Can I keep an interactive investor SIPP if I become non-UK resident?

Its SIPP guide says UK residents can open and contribute. What happens to existing members who leave is for ii to confirm, but its charges list an extra £5 per month for non-UK residents, so ask whether that would apply.

Does an international SIPP differ from a normal one?

The label "international SIPP" may mean different things at different firms. Ask what the product accepts, which countries it covers and what it costs. Moving a SIPP to a QROPS instead is the subject above and in what a QROPS is.

What about Vanguard or Fidelity?

Each sets its own terms for non-UK residents, so put the questions listed in the section on getting paid to them; an adviser can also talk them through at no cost once you request a call-back.

Your next step

Whether to keep a SIPP, stop paying in, or look at an overseas scheme depends on where you live, your earnings history and the provider you hold it with. Destination, leaving date, SIPP provider: the form on this page takes those three, then an FCA-authorised firm calls with an adviser, free.

Sources, read 20 October 2026: HMRC Pensions Tax Manual PTM044100; Finance Act 2004 ss189, 190, 244AA, 244AC; GOV.UK, Transferring your pension; AJ Bell terms and conditions (AJBYI/T&Cs/20260905); Hargreaves Lansdown, Moving abroad, and SIPP key features (2 April 2026); interactive investor, What is a SIPP, and rates and charges (1 October 2026); FCA, Pension scams.