🇪🇸 Spain · Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS)
How to request your Informe de Vida Laboral
Short answer
Fastest route: go to Import@ss (portal.seg-social.gob.es) or the Import@ss app, find 'Informe de tu vida laboral', choose the SMS option, and enter your DNI or NIE, date of birth and mobile number. Social Security texts you a one-time code; enter it and the PDF downloads immediately. This only works if that phone number is the one Social Security already has on file for you.
If your phone isn't registered, or you'd rather log in properly, go to the same 'Informe de tu vida laboral' service and sign in with Cl@ve Permanente, Cl@ve PIN (the app itself labels this option 'Cl@ve móvil') or a digital certificate/DNIe, then press Consultar vida laboral. The report lists every employer, contribution period and Social Security regime recorded against your name — it is not a pension estimate, and it does not state an amount.
- Time
- Under a minute by SMS if your phone is already on file. About five minutes via Cl@ve if you're already registered — plan for a separate, slower registration step if you're not.
- Cost
- Free
- You need
- Your DNI or NIE · Your date of birth · For the SMS route: a Spanish mobile number already registered with Social Security · For the Cl@ve/certificate route: a Cl@ve Permanente, Cl@ve PIN account, or a digital certificate/DNIe
Below: all 3 steps, and what to do at each point where the login goes wrong — which is the part the official pages leave out.
Open Import@ss ↗Before you start: is your mobile number registered with Social Security?
Spain has no single login for this document — it has two entirely separate routes, and which one is worth attempting depends on one fact you may not know off-hand: whether the TGSS already holds a mobile number for you.
The SMS route is, by a wide margin, the easiest state-pension-record retrieval of any country: no account, no password, no certificate, just a text message. Every source describes it the same way — DNI/NIE, date of birth, mobile number, a 6-digit code, a PDF. The catch is entirely in that third field. The number has to be the one Social Security already has on file, because it is not asking you to prove you own a phone in general, it is asking you to prove you are the person already associated with that specific number. If you have never worked in Spain, never registered as autónomo, and never separately updated your contact details with the TGSS, there is no number on file and the SMS route is closed to you, full stop.
If that's you, or if you simply don't know whether your number is current, the fallback is Cl@ve — Spain's shared government login, used across the Agencia Tributaria, Social Security and most other public bodies — or a digital certificate/DNIe. That route works regardless of what phone number Social Security holds, but it has its own setup cost, covered below.
If it doesn't look like this
How do I check whether my mobile number is registered without giving up and trying Cl@ve first?
There is no separate lookup — the only way to find out is to attempt the SMS route and see whether a code arrives. If nothing comes within a minute or two, treat that as your answer and move to the Cl@ve/certificate branch rather than retrying the same number repeatedly.
I've never had a Spanish mobile number, or I've changed it since I last worked in Spain
This is the direct equivalent of Ireland's stale-address trap, and it closes off the fast route in exactly the same way. You cannot self-register a new number through the SMS flow itself — you need to log in another way (Cl@ve, digital certificate, or an in-person/telephone request) and update your contact details from inside your account, or have it updated at a TGSS office.
Do I need a DNI, or is a NIE enough?
A NIE is enough. Every version of the SMS and Cl@ve forms accepts DNI or NIE as alternatives — this document is built around your Social Security affiliation number, not your specific identity-document type.
Which route do you want to take?
The two paths do not share any steps, so pick the one that matches your situation. If you're not sure your phone is registered, try SMS first — it costs you nothing but two minutes to find out, and if it fails you simply fall through to the Cl@ve route.
Open 'Informe de tu vida laboral' and choose Vía SMS
Go to Import@ss, the TGSS's citizen portal, at portal.seg-social.gob.es (or open the Import@ss app). Find the service named 'Informe de tu vida laboral' — it sits under 'Vida laboral e informes', and on both the web portal and the app it's also pinned as one of the 'Servicios más utilizados' tiles on the home screen. Press it, then choose the SMS option rather than logging in.
- Informe de tu vida laboral — Import@ssOfficial
- Import@ss — Google PlayOfficial
- Import@ss — App StoreOfficial
If it doesn't look like this
I can't find 'Vía SMS' anywhere on the page
The exact label position on the web portal could not be confirmed by direct inspection — the government domain blocks automated access, and this guide is built from secondary sources rather than a live click-through. If the wording doesn't match what you see, look for any option described as requesting the report without a certificate or Cl@ve; it is described consistently across independent sources as sitting alongside the login options on the same service page, not buried in a separate menu.
Enter your DNI/NIE, date of birth and mobile number
Fill in three fields: your DNI or NIE, your date of birth (format DD/MM/AAAA), and the mobile number you want the code sent to. That number has to match what Social Security already holds — see the note above if you're not sure it does.
If it doesn't look like this
What format does the DNI/NIE need to be in?
Capital letters, no spaces or dashes, matching exactly how it appears on the physical document — the same convention used across every Spanish government form.
Enter the 6-digit code and download the PDF
A text arrives from Social Security — commonly reported as landing within 10 to 30 seconds — with a one-time 6-digit code. Type it into the form and the PDF generates immediately, with an electronic verification code (CEA) printed on it that gives the downloaded file full official standing.
If it doesn't look like this
No text arrives
The most common cause by far is the one already flagged: the number isn't the one on file. Beyond that, treat it the same as any other SMS delivery issue — check for carrier-level filtering of short numeric-code messages, and on iPhone check that iMessage isn't intercepting it. If a couple of minutes pass with nothing, restart the request rather than waiting indefinitely; a fresh request issues a fresh code.
Is this document legally identical to the one I'd get through Cl@ve?
Yes. Both routes produce the same PDF with the same verification code, issued by the same authority. Nothing about the SMS route is a lesser or informal version — it's simply a different identity check.
Before you start this route: do you already have Cl@ve or a certificate?
Cl@ve is Spain's shared government identity system — the same login covers Social Security, the Agencia Tributaria and most other public bodies. If you already have Cl@ve Permanente, a Cl@ve PIN account, or a digital certificate/DNIe, skip to the next step. If you don't, registering is a separate process, and this is where the real friction lives for anyone outside Spain.
There are effectively three things you might be asked to authenticate with, and the Import@ss app's own login screen lists all of them side by side: Cl@ve Permanente, Cl@ve móvil (this is the app's label for what's described elsewhere, including by Cl@ve's own documentation, as Cl@ve PIN — a temporary, occasional-use code rather than a persistent password; this guide could not fully confirm whether 'Cl@ve móvil' and 'Cl@ve PIN' are formally the same product or a rebranded variant, so treat them as functionally equivalent rather than assume identical branding everywhere), and Certificado digital. A fourth option, DNIe, works the same way as a certificate.
Registration itself has several paths, and they are not equally open to someone abroad. Basic-level registration over the internet without a certificate typically works by requesting an invitation letter — from the Agencia Tributaria for tax purposes, which Cl@ve also relies on — and that letter is sent by post to your fiscal address in Spain. If you no longer have one, that route is effectively closed. A video-call appointment, where an official verifies your identity while you show your ID on camera, is the documented workaround for people without a Spanish postal address, alongside in-person registration at a Tax Agency, Social Security, or Immigration Office if you happen to be in Spain. Anyone who already holds a digital certificate or DNIe can register online directly, without any of this.
- Cl@ve — registration optionsOfficial
If it doesn't look like this
I live outside Spain and have no Spanish postal address — can I still register for Cl@ve?
This is the Spanish equivalent of Ireland's emigrant address-matching trap, and it's worth planning for rather than discovering mid-request. The internet-with-invitation-letter route needs a Spanish fiscal address to post the letter to, which most people who've left Spain no longer have. The documented alternative is a video-call appointment with the Agencia Tributaria, where you show your ID on camera rather than receive anything by post. This guide could not verify the exact current booking process for that appointment from outside Spain — check clave.gob.es directly for availability.
I don't have a DNI, only a NIE — can I still get Cl@ve or a certificate?
Yes. NIE holders can register for Cl@ve; the online route without a certificate is documented as needing your NIE together with the expiry date of your TIE (residence card) or residency certificate. A digital certificate is similarly obtainable by NIE holders through the FNMT or equivalent issuing body, independent of DNI status.
What's the difference between Cl@ve Permanente and Cl@ve PIN, and which do I actually need for this?
Cl@ve Permanente is a persistent username-and-password login, reinforced with one-time SMS codes on each use, meant for people who transact with the administration regularly. Cl@ve PIN (what the Import@ss app itself calls Cl@ve móvil) is occasional-use: a temporary code issued fresh each time, with no password to remember. For a single Informe de Vida Laboral request, either is sufficient — Cl@ve PIN is the lighter-weight option if you don't expect to need government logins often.
Log in to Import@ss or the Sede Electrónica
Open Import@ss (portal.seg-social.gob.es) or the Sede Electrónica de la Seguridad Social, and sign in. The Import@ss app's login screen presents four options side by side: Cl@ve Permanente, Cl@ve móvil, SMS, and Certificado digital — pick whichever you registered for. On the web Sede Electrónica the same options are presented as a login-method chooser before you reach any personal data.
If it doesn't look like this
Should I use Import@ss or the Sede Electrónica?
Import@ss is the newer citizen-facing portal — guided, plain-language, built around the services people actually ask for. The Sede Electrónica is the fuller administrative channel and covers more ground, but with denser navigation. For this specific document, both reach the same service; Import@ss is the easier of the two to navigate.
What the Informe de Vida Laboral actually shows
Whichever route you took, you now have a PDF with an electronic verification code, listing — chronologically — every employer or activity you've been registered under, the Social Security regime for each period (general, autónomo, agrario and so on), the exact start and end dates, and your grupo de cotización, a 1-to-11 professional category code. What it does not contain is a euro figure: no pension estimate, no projected amount. It is a record of periods and categories, not a forecast.
Unlike Ireland's Contribution Statement, which is cut off at the end of the last complete tax year, the Spanish report is described consistently as current to the day you request it — there's no equivalent lag to plan around.
The grupo de cotización is worth understanding on sight, because it looks like it might be a pension multiplier and isn't: it's a professional-category code (1 for engineers and graduates, down through clerical and unskilled-labour bands) used to set contribution bases, not a factor in your eventual benefit calculation. If you specifically need euro contribution amounts month by month, that's a different document — the Informe de Bases de Cotización, available through the same portals.
Every route is free. If a website asks you to pay for this document, it isn't Social Security's — the genuine service, by every route, costs nothing.
If it doesn't look like this
My record has gaps or a period I know I worked is missing
As with Ireland, blank periods aren't automatically errors — unemployment, education, caring periods and work carried out entirely outside Spain will all show as gaps. Genuine omissions do happen, most often around employer registration lapses. Because Social Security contributions drive both the minimum qualifying period and the amount of a Spanish pension, a period you're confident about is worth raising with the TGSS directly — by telephone (901 502 050 or 91 541 02 91, weekday business hours) or at an INSS office, with whatever payslips or contracts you still hold.
I also worked in another EU country — do those periods count towards a Spanish pension?
Yes, under the same EU coordination framework Ireland uses: Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, in force since 1 May 2010, requires periods of insurance completed in other EU/EEA states (plus Switzerland and, under a separate post-Brexit arrangement, the UK) to be totalised with your Spanish record for both qualifying and calculating a pension, applying pro-rata temporis under Article 52 so each country pays for its own periods. Overlapping periods count once, and — as in Ireland — you need a minimum Spanish record of your own before anything else aggregates onto it.
Do I have to send my Informe de Vida Laboral to another country's pension authority myself?
No — the institutions exchange records directly with each other when you actually claim, in the same way Ireland's Department of Social Protection does. Your Informe de Vida Laboral is for you: it's how you check the Spanish side of your record is complete and correct before you claim, not a document you personally courier abroad.
Questions people actually ask
How fast does the Informe de Vida Laboral arrive?
By SMS, near-instantly if your phone number is registered — the code is commonly reported arriving within 10 to 30 seconds, with the PDF generating immediately after you enter it. Through Import@ss or the Sede Electrónica with Cl@ve or a certificate, the report is also produced instantly once you're logged in and reach the service. The only slow routes are telephone or postal requests, which several sources describe taking roughly a week to arrive by mail — worth avoiding unless neither digital route is available to you.
Is there any charge for the Informe de Vida Laboral?
No. Every route — SMS, Import@ss, Sede Electrónica, telephone or post — is free, issued directly by the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social. Any third-party site charging a fee for it is not the official service.
Can I get my Informe de Vida Laboral without Cl@ve or a digital certificate?
Yes, and this is Spain's standout feature among state-pension-record retrievals: the SMS route needs no account, no password and no certificate at all — only your DNI/NIE, date of birth and a mobile number Social Security already has on file for you. If that number isn't on file, the SMS route is closed and Cl@ve or a certificate becomes necessary.
My mobile number isn't registered with Social Security — what do I do?
You can't self-register a new number through the SMS request form itself. You need to log in another way — Cl@ve, a digital certificate, or a telephone/in-person request — and update your contact details from inside your account, or have Social Security update it directly. This is the single biggest reason the 'fastest pension record in Europe' claim doesn't apply to every expat: it depends on a phone number most emigrants haven't kept current.
Can I request my Informe de Vida Laboral from outside Spain?
Yes, both routes work from anywhere with internet access — neither the SMS form nor Import@ss checks your location. The genuine obstacle for someone abroad is Cl@ve registration, not the vida laboral request itself: the no-certificate internet registration route sends an activation letter to a Spanish postal address, which most emigrants no longer have. The documented workaround is a video-call identity check with the Agencia Tributaria rather than the postal route.
What's the difference between Cl@ve Permanente and Cl@ve PIN (Cl@ve móvil)?
Cl@ve Permanente is a persistent username/password login reinforced with SMS one-time codes, meant for frequent use. Cl@ve PIN — labelled Cl@ve móvil on the Import@ss app's own login screen — is a temporary, occasional-use code issued fresh each time you need it, with nothing to remember between uses. Either is sufficient to request a single Informe de Vida Laboral; Cl@ve PIN is the lighter option if you don't expect to use Spanish government logins regularly.
What does the Informe de Vida Laboral actually show?
A chronological list of every employer or self-employed activity you've been registered under with Social Security: the regime (general, autónomo, agrario, etc.), exact start and end dates, and your grupo de cotización — a 1-to-11 professional-category code. It does not show a pension amount or projection, and it does not show month-by-month contribution figures in euros; that lives in a separate document, the Informe de Bases de Cotización.
Does the Informe de Vida Laboral tell me what my Spanish pension will be?
No. It is a record of registered periods and categories, not a forecast. Entitlement and amount are only determined when you actually claim, calculated against the regulatory base and the rules in force at that time.
What is the grupo de cotización on my report?
A professional-category code from 1 to 11 — for example 1 covers engineers and graduates, 7 covers clerical staff, 10 covers unskilled labour — used historically to set contribution bases. It looks like it could be a pension-relevant multiplier and isn't; treat it as a job-category label, not a benefit calculation.
How many years do I need to have contributed for a Spanish state pension?
A minimum of 15 years contributed, at least 2 of them within the 15 years immediately before you claim, is the qualifying floor — that gets you 50% of your base reguladora. The full ordinary retirement age and contribution profile shift by year under current reform rules: in 2026, reaching ordinary retirement age at 65 requires roughly 38 years 3 months contributed; with less than that, ordinary retirement age rises to around 66 years 10 months. These figures move with policy — confirm against Seguridad Social's own published tables before relying on them for a specific decision.
Do my contributions in other EU countries count towards a Spanish pension?
Yes, under Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, the same EU social security coordination framework that applies to Ireland. Insurance periods completed in other EU/EEA states, Switzerland, or the UK (under its own post-Brexit arrangement) are totalised with your Spanish record for both qualifying and calculating a pension, with each country paying pro-rata for its own periods, and overlapping periods counted once.
Do I need to send my Informe de Vida Laboral to another country's pension authority myself?
No. As with Ireland, the institutions exchange contribution records directly with each other once you formally claim — you are not the courier. Your Informe de Vida Laboral exists so you can check the Spanish side of the record is complete and correct before that happens, since disputes are slow to resolve and are best caught before a claim is in progress.
Official sources
- Informe de tu vida laboral — Import@ss (Seguridad Social)
- Ciudadanos → Informes y certificados — Sede Electrónica de la Seguridad Social
- 'Servicios Vía SMS' — Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones
- Cómo obtener el informe de vida laboral — Revista Seguridad Social
- Cl@ve — registration options
- Reglamento (CE) nº 883/2004 — BOE
- Import@ss — Google Play (developer-published app screenshots used in this guide)
- Import@ss — App Store
- How to get your Employment History (Vida Laboral) report in Spain — Balcells Group
- Informe de Vida Laboral: Employment History Report — Citizens Advice Bureau Spain
- Cl@ve para emigrantes — Volvemos.org
- Requisitos de la jubilación en 2026 — Campmany Abogados
Last checked against the live portal on . Government portals get redesigned without notice — if a screen here no longer matches what you see, trust the portal, not us. This guide is independent and is not affiliated with the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS).