How to request your Social Security earnings and benefits record

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.

ID.me - Login.gov cannot register you. Its account-creation flow has no address option for a civilian living abroad, only the 50 states, DC, the territories, and military addresses, and SSA's own FAQ confirms overseas customers should register with ID.me. This guide walks the Login.gov route because that is the route the screenshots follow; if you're abroad, choose 'Sign in with ID.me' at step 2 and rejoin the guide at step 6.

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.

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.

ID.me's own guidance is to use the international 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 taking the 'I don't live in the United States' link on the first Verify screen is more reliable than trying to back out mid-flow.

This is the most commonly reported friction point in the whole international ID.me path. There's no published maximum wait; if it's genuinely stuck, SSA's fallback for a failed online verification is a phone or in-person route - see the numbers in the outcome section.

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.

That's expected. This form wants your Login.gov credential, not the SSA username SSA retired on June 7, 2025. If you've never set up Login.gov, use 'Create an account' on this same screen - see the previous step.

Use 'Choose another authentication method' on this screen to fall back to any other second factor you registered - a phone code, an authenticator app, or your printed backup codes. If you've lost every method, Login.gov's own account-recovery flow is the only way back in; SSA can't reset a Login.gov factor for you.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.