🇺🇸 United States · Social Security Administration
How to request your Social Security earnings and benefits record
Short answer
Sign in or register at ssa.gov/myaccount, choose a credential provider — Login.gov if you have a US address, ID.me if you don't — verify your identity, then click 'Your Social Security Statement' twice (once on the dashboard, once on the page it opens) to download the PDF.
It's free. There is no queue for the digital Statement the way there is for some other countries' contribution records — once you're logged in, it's on screen immediately. What isn't instant is getting logged in: Login.gov requires a US mailing address (the 50 states, DC, the territories, or a military address) and has no option for civilians abroad, so anyone with a foreign address must use ID.me instead, and ID.me's own published international-verification process runs through document upload plus a video call with a live agent, not simple self-service.
- Time
- About 15–30 minutes if your provider confirms you immediately; add a video-call wait if you're verifying from abroad with ID.me. The Statement itself is instant once you're logged in.
- Cost
- Free
- You need
- Your Social Security number · A government-issued photo ID (a passport if verifying from abroad) · An email address · A device with a camera, if using ID.me
Below: all 8 steps, and what to do at each point where the login goes wrong — which is the part the official pages leave out.
Open my Social Security ↗Before you start: Login.gov or ID.me — and which one can you even use?
Every path into my Social Security now runs through one of two outside identity providers. SSA retired its own username-and-password system entirely — effective June 7, 2025, Login.gov and ID.me are the only sign-in options, for every account, not just new ones.
The two providers are not interchangeable, and the difference that matters most for anyone outside the US is address, not preference. Login.gov's own account-creation flow asks for an address in one of the 50 states, DC, a US territory, or a 'US Minor Outlying Island' — there are options for military addresses but none for a civilian living overseas. If that's you, Login.gov is closed to you, and SSA's own guidance says so directly: customers with a foreign mailing address should create an account with ID.me instead.
SSA's own comparison table on ssa.gov/myaccount puts it plainly: Login.gov is 'Best for Most users in the United States,' ID.me is 'Best for Users inside or outside the United States.' Both need an email address and a government-issued photo ID; Login.gov additionally lists a phone number, ID.me lists a device with a camera — though a phone is not strictly required for either, see the note below.
If it doesn't look like this
I created my my Social Security account years ago with a username and password — do I need to do anything?
Yes. As of June 7, 2025 that old credential no longer works for anyone, regardless of when the account was created. You must register with Login.gov or ID.me before you can sign in again — there is no way to keep using the old system.
I live outside the US. Which provider do I pick?
ID.me. Login.gov's registration flow has no address option for a civilian living abroad — only the 50 states, DC, the territories, and military addresses. SSA's own FAQ confirms overseas customers should register with ID.me. This is the single most consequential fork in this entire process: pick wrong and you'll fill in a form that has no field for where you actually live.
Do I need a US Social Security number to use ID.me from abroad?
Yes for this specific purpose — a Social Security Statement is, by definition, a record tied to an SSN. ID.me's own account-creation flow supports an ITIN as an alternative credential for other use cases, but the Statement itself requires an SSN.
Go to ssa.gov/myaccount and press Create an Account
Open ssa.gov/myaccount. If you've never registered with Login.gov or ID.me before, the button you want is Create an Account. If you already hold a Login.gov or ID.me credential from some other government service — the IRS, USAJobs, the VA — you don't need a second one; use Sign In instead.
If it doesn't look like this
I already have an ID.me or Login.gov account from another government agency — do I need a new one for Social Security?
No. SSA's transition FAQ is explicit: 'You do NOT need to create a new ID.me account specifically for Social Security online services.' One credential covers both government services and, for ID.me, a number of private-sector ones too. Use Sign In, not Create an Account.
Which credential service should you use?
This is a fork, not a straight-through step — pick the option that matches your mailing address. The two routes rejoin once you're signed back in at my Social Security.
Create your Login.gov account (US address)
Login.gov's account creation starts with your email address, a password, and a choice of second-factor method — text message, phone call, an authenticator app, a security key, or printed backup codes. It then asks you to photograph a state driver's licence, state ID, or passport, and take a live selfie for comparison.
Hold the phone at face height and look straight at the camera; Login.gov's own guidance stresses the selfie must be a real-time capture, not an uploaded photo.
If it doesn't look like this
I don't want to give a mobile number.
Login.gov doesn't require one. You can register a security key, a landline (via phone call rather than text), or generate ten one-time backup codes instead. Backup codes are, in Login.gov's own words, 'the least secure option' — printed or written codes are easier to lose or have stolen than a phone-based method — but they work.
Create your ID.me account (no US address)
On the my Social Security page, select Create an Account, then Sign in with ID.me, then Create an ID.me account and follow the prompts. ID.me walks you through its own email/password/MFA setup much like Login.gov's. The part that matters for anyone abroad comes next.
On ID.me's 'Verify Your Identity' screen, don't pick either radio button
This screen presents two options — Self-Service (upload a photo ID plus a selfie, 5–10 minutes per ID.me's estimate) and Video Call (10–15 minutes) — and neither is for you if you live outside the US. The link you actually want, 'I don't live in the United States,' sits underneath both, in small blue text.
If it doesn't look like this
I accidentally selected Self-Service or Video Call before finding the international link.
ID.me's own guidance for this exact situation is to use the international-specific escape hatches instead — 'I don't have a US phone number' or 'I don't have a US address,' which appear elsewhere in the flow once it detects you're stuck. Restarting from ssa.gov/myaccount and choosing the link on the first screen is more reliable than trying to back out mid-flow.
Confirm your Social Security number and country
After choosing the international link, ID.me asks you to select a non-US country under 'Current Address,' then enter and confirm your Social Security number. The screen also carries a box for people without an SSN — an ITIN alternative — which isn't the route you want, since the Statement is an SSN-linked record.
Photograph your documents
ID.me needs two primary documents (for example, a passport and a national ID card), or one primary plus a secondary document such as a utility bill, a payslip, or a bank statement, to establish a non-US identity.
ID.me's own guidance is specific about photo quality: shoot straight-on and not at an angle, on a dark contrasting surface, matching the document's orientation, with nothing else in frame, uncropped, uncovered, and in focus. A rejected photo is the single most avoidable delay in this whole flow.
Did ID.me confirm you immediately, or send you to a video call?
This isn't a choice you make — it's what ID.me decides after reviewing your documents — but it forks how long this step takes.
If you're routed to a video call
ID.me's own published international-verification steps describe the video call as a standard part of this path, not an unusual escalation: you join, show the physical originals of the documents you photographed — commonly a Social Security card and a passport — and a Trusted Referee verifies them against your account information live.
ID.me states video verification runs 24/7, appointments display in your local time zone, and it supports interpretation in over 240 languages if you ask the agent for one. ID.me's own estimate is a 5–10 minute wait; user reports elsewhere describe queues running longer at peak times, so treat the official estimate as a floor, not a promise.
If it doesn't look like this
Nobody's available, or the queue is very long.
This is the most commonly reported friction point in the whole international ID.me path. There's no published SLA from ID.me for maximum wait; if it's genuinely stuck, SSA's own fallback for a failed online verification is a phone or in-person route — see the outcome section for the numbers.
Return to ssa.gov/myaccount and sign in
Once your credential is created and verified, go back to ssa.gov/myaccount and choose Sign In, then the same provider you just registered with. You'll be dropped onto your personal my Social Security dashboard.
If it doesn't look like this
I have accounts with both providers now — does it matter which I use going forward?
No. SSA's FAQ confirms you can hold both and sign in to my Social Security with either one; you don't need to standardise on a single provider.
Open 'Your Social Security Statement' — twice
On the dashboard, look for the 'Your Social Security Statement' link or panel and click it. This lands you on a page that itself contains another 'Your Social Security Statement' link or button; click that one too, and the PDF downloads directly to your browser's downloads folder.
This two-click description comes from a third-party financial-planning walkthrough of the live flow, not from SSA's own published copy, which confirms the destination and content but not the exact click count — treat the second click as the likely path, and look for a clearly-labelled download or view action if the layout has since changed.
If it doesn't look like this
I can't find the Statement link on the dashboard.
SSA's own 'What is an Account?' page lists getting your Statement among the core things a non-beneficiary account can do, alongside viewing retirement estimates and checking your application status — it should be a prominent action on the dashboard, not buried in a menu. If it genuinely isn't there, the account may not have completed identity verification yet; check for an unresolved verification prompt first.
What happens next
Your Statement is on screen and downloadable the moment you finish the click-through above — there is no waiting period for the online version, unlike the mailed one. Save the PDF; it's a snapshot of your earnings record and benefit estimates as SSA holds them on that date.
The redesigned Statement (SSA form SSA-7005-SM-OL) is two pages and includes a bar graph of personalized monthly retirement benefit estimates at nine ages, 62 through 70, based on earnings to date and the assumption you keep earning at roughly your current level until you claim; your full earnings record split into earnings taxed for Social Security and earnings taxed for Medicare (Medicare taxation began in 1966, so pre-1966 rows only show the Social Security column); estimated Social Security and Medicare taxes paid over your career, split between you and your employer(s); and disability and survivor benefit estimates where applicable. It also notes earnings not covered by Social Security — pension income from work where you didn't pay Social Security tax, including some government and foreign employment, which can reduce your benefit under the Windfall Elimination Provision (SSA points to ssa.gov/gpo-wep for detail).
What it does not show: a guarantee of your eventual benefit — SSA's own sample statement says estimates are based on current law, 'which Congress has revised before and may revise again.' It also doesn't include periods of work covered by a foreign social security system, even where a Totalization Agreement would eventually let those periods count toward eligibility — the Statement is SSA's own record of US-covered earnings only. SSA's statement.html page notes specifically that for people living overseas, the Statement reflects 'domestic earnings only' — SSA doesn't spell out further what that phrase changes in practice for an expat's figures, so treat any of your own foreign-earned income as simply absent from this document rather than assume it's factored in some other way.
If it doesn't look like this
My identity verification failed and I can't get into the online account at all.
SSA's fallback is a phone call to 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), or — if you're not in the US — the Office of Earnings & International Operations at 1-855-522-6936, 7am–5pm Eastern, or email oio.net.post@ssa.gov. SSA's own guidance says if you were unable to create or had a problem with your account and need in-person help, you make an appointment at your local Social Security office — but there are no Social Security offices outside the US, so for anyone abroad the actual in-person alternative is your nearest American embassy or consulate, which SSA says has trained personnel to assist with Social Security services.
I don't want to deal with any of this online — can I just get a paper copy?
Yes. Print and complete Form SSA-7004 ('Request For Social Security Statement') and mail it to Social Security Administration, Wilkes-Barre Direct Operations Center, P.O. Box 7004, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18767-7004. It's free, and SSA states it arrives in four to six weeks. SSA's international-operations page currently carries a live warning that mail service disruptions in some countries mean documents sent to or from SSA can be delayed or undelivered — worth checking with your local postal service before relying on this route from abroad.
I'm 60 or older and don't have an online account — do I need to do anything?
Not necessarily. SSA mails a paper Statement automatically, three months before your 60th birthday, to anyone who doesn't have an online account and isn't yet receiving benefits. If you don't want to wait for that scheduled mailing, request one now via SSA-7004 or create the online account instead.
Questions people actually ask
How long does a Social Security Statement take to arrive?
If you get it online, it's instant — no request queue. What takes time is identity verification: 5–20 minutes for Login.gov, and for ID.me's international path, add a video call that ID.me estimates at 5–10 minutes but which real-world reports describe running longer at busy times. The paper route via Form SSA-7004 takes four to six weeks by mail.
Is there a charge for a Social Security Statement?
No. Online or by mail, it's free.
Can I get my Statement without a US mailing address?
Yes, but not through Login.gov — its account-creation flow has no address field for a civilian living abroad, only the 50 states, DC, US territories, and military addresses. You need an ID.me credential instead. On ID.me's 'Verify Your Identity' screen, skip the Self-Service and Video Call radio buttons and use the 'I don't live in the United States' link beneath them, which routes you through a country-specific flow that generally ends in a live video call with a Trusted Referee.
Do I need a US phone number?
No, for either provider. SSA's own transition FAQ states a phone is not required for Login.gov or ID.me — you can use a security key, a landline call, or printed backup codes for the second factor instead. The genuine gate for people abroad is Login.gov's address requirement, not a phone number.
What does the Social Security Statement actually show?
A bar graph of your personalized monthly retirement benefit at nine claiming ages from 62 to 70, your full year-by-year earnings record split by Social Security and Medicare taxation, an estimate of total Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by you and your employer(s), and disability and survivor benefit estimates where applicable. It does not include work covered by a foreign social security system, and SSA explicitly frames all the benefit figures as estimates under current law that Congress could change.
Does the Statement tell me what my Social Security benefit will actually be?
No — it's an estimate, calculated as if you keep earning at roughly your current level until the claiming age shown, under the benefit rules in force today. SSA's own sample statement says plainly that Congress has revised these rules before and may again. Your actual benefit is only fixed when you file a claim.
How many years of work do I need to qualify for retirement benefits?
At least 10 years of covered work — 40 credits in SSA's terminology — to qualify for retirement benefits at all, per SSA's own published statement content. Benefit amounts are calculated from your highest 35 years of earnings; fewer than 35 years of covered work means the missing years count as zero and reduce your average.
I worked in another country — do those years count toward a US Social Security benefit?
Sometimes, through a bilateral Totalization Agreement. The US has active agreements with 30 countries (including Ireland, the UK, and most of the EU) as of April 2026, letting periods of coverage in either country be combined to help meet minimum eligibility where neither country's record alone would qualify you, with each country then paying its own proportional share. Foreign-covered periods don't appear as figures on your Social Security Statement itself — the Statement is a US-earnings record — so a Totalization Agreement is something you'd invoke at claim time, not something reflected in this document.
What's the difference between Login.gov and ID.me?
Both are federally-accepted identity credentials and either works for my Social Security once you're registered — SSA's transition FAQ says you can hold both and use either to sign in. The practical difference is who can register: Login.gov requires a US address (states, DC, territories, or a military address) and SSA's own comparison table calls it best for users inside the US; ID.me accepts non-US addresses and is SSA's stated best option for users inside or outside the US.
My old my Social Security username and password stopped working — why?
SSA switched off the old sign-in system entirely, for every account, effective June 7, 2025. Login.gov and ID.me are now the only way in, regardless of when your account was originally created.
I can't verify online at all — what's the alternative?
Call 1-800-772-1213 (or, from outside the US, the Office of Earnings & International Operations on 1-855-522-6936, 7am–5pm Eastern), or request the paper Statement via Form SSA-7004 by mail — free, four to six weeks. SSA's stated in-person fallback is a local Social Security office, but there are none outside the US; for anyone abroad the working in-person alternative is a US embassy or consulate.
Official sources
- Get Your Social Security Statement — SSA
- my Social Security — SSA
- Create an Account — SSA
- What is an Account? — SSA
- Learn about changes we're making to your personal my Social Security account — SSA
- Service Around the World — Office of Earnings & International Operations, SSA
- How will I access my personal Social Security account if I am overseas? — SSA FAQ
- How can I get a Social Security Statement? — SSA FAQ
- Request for a Social Security Statement (SSA-7004) — SSA
- Form SSA-7004 — SSA
- U.S. International Social Security Agreements — SSA
- Access Your New Social Security Statement Online — SSA Blog
- Verifying if you live outside of the U.S. and have an SSN — ID.me Help Center
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 Social Security Administration.