Pension question, Spain
How do I get my vida laboral from abroad?
The SMS option works only if your mobile number was previously registered with the Tesoreria, which a foreign number never is, and registering one means filing a form with your DNI or NIE plus documentation proving the phone is yours. The postal option works only if the address the Tesoreria holds for you still matches where you live, and correcting it calls for Spanish municipal register evidence a non-resident does not have.
- Source: seg-social.es and revista.seg-social.es, read 3 October 2026
What to do next
- Find your NIE or DNI number and your Spanish social security number.
- Check which mobile number and address the Spanish authorities may still hold for you.
- Run our free check to see what else your working life may have left.
Check your own working life for free
Tell us where you worked. The free check shows which countries may hold a pension for you, and which can be ruled out and why. No sign in, no charge.
Run the free checkQuestions people also ask
Does the Cl@ve letter expire?
Getting Cl@ve itself carries its own clock: the invitation letter route posts a 16 character code to the tax address held on file, and you have 60 days to use it before it expires. A letter sitting at an old Spanish address expires unused.
- Source: seg-social.es and mjusticia.gob.es, read 3 October 2026
- Source: seg-social.es and mjusticia.gob.es, read 3 October 2026
Do you give advice on what to do?
No. We identify where a pension is likely held and the official route to it, and we name each source with the date we read it. We do not give financial, tax or legal advice.