This guide is what worked for us and the people we've helped — it is not legal advice, and we are not legal professionals. Rules change, every situation is different, and the cost of getting it wrong (denied visas, double taxation, fines, missed deadlines) is real.
Before you act on anything here, speak with a qualified legal professional — an immigration lawyer (abogado de extranjería), a cross-border tax accountant, or a licensed gestor — who can review your specific facts. Use this guide to know what questions to ask, not as a substitute for paid advice.
An informe de vida laboral is the official record of your registrations and deregistrations in Spanish Social Security schemes. It can show employers, self-employed periods, start/end dates and days registered. It is not your CV, an employment contract or proof of every job you have ever held worldwide.
Open Informe de tu vida laboral on Importass, or find Vida laboral e informes → Informe de tu vida laboral from the portal. The official report is free. A paid intermediary is not required; our guide and its PDF are also free, with no account or purchase needed.
If someone has asked for a vida laboral, confirm whether they need the complete report or a date-filtered version, how recent it must be and whether translation is required. There is no single freshness rule for every bank, employer or application.
Have a working digital certificate or DNIe? Choose that method on the official report page. Use the device/browser where your certificate and private key are installed. A routinely renewed certificate should access your existing record when its identity matches; you do not need a second Social Security number. See our certificate guide or the new-certificate services checklist.
**Already registered with Cl@ve?** Choose the Cl@ve option displayed and complete the official identification prompts. Follow the current portal wording rather than expecting every service to use the same Cl@ve screen.
No certificate, but your mobile number is registered with Social Security? Use Vía SMS. The number must match the one on your Social Security record; owning a Spanish SIM alone is not sufficient.
None of those work? Use the official alternative request option described below. Identity verification or postal delivery can take longer; do not assume it will produce an immediate download.
Open the official report service. From Importass, find Informe de tu vida laboral and select Consultar vida laboral or the equivalent current access button. Check that the address remains on the official Social Security site before entering identity information.
Identify yourself. Select your current personal certificate/DNIe or follow the offered Cl@ve method. Check that your name and NIE/DNI belong to you before continuing, especially on a shared computer.
Review the history and obtain the PDF. Use Descargar vida laboral or the report download option. If the service offers filters for dates or situations, choose the scope the requesting organisation actually needs; retain the full report for your own checks.
Save and open it. Keep the PDF somewhere secure and check its issue date, identity and pages. If it opens in a new tab rather than downloading, use the PDF viewer's download control. Keep the original file intact rather than replacing it with screenshots.
On the official report service, choose Vía SMS. Enter the identity details it requests — typically DNI/NIE, date of birth and mobile number — exactly as held by Social Security.
Receive the one-time code on the registered phone, enter it on the official page and continue to your report. Then download the PDF using the report's download option. Do not share the code with anyone or enter it into a third-party guide.
If no code arrives or the details do not match, check your record. Use Importass personal-data services to communicate/correct your phone number using an identification option you can complete. You cannot bypass the registered-number requirement by entering a different phone in the report form.
Avoid repeatedly requesting codes. Check reception, the number you entered and service notices; then use another official identification method or the alternative request route if necessary. This website does not collect your NIE, phone, SMS code or employment report.
The official report page offers a request without electronic identification. For a separate postal request, open Informe de vida laboral a domicilio.
For postal delivery, your supplied personal details and address must match Social Security's records. Check/update an old address first through Datos personales. Do not assume this option delivers overseas. Postal delivery is not an instant PDF download; no delivery time is guaranteed here.
If the portal offers a no-identification request with supporting documents, provide only what that official procedure requests. Such requests may require identity-document images, a photograph for identity verification and an email address, and are reviewed rather than authenticated immediately. Follow the live service's requirements.
For help, use the official Importass help area. If online options are inaccessible, ask Social Security which support or appointment route applies to your case; do not assume every office issues the report without an appointment.
Check the holder and Social Security number first. Your NIE/DNI, name and NUSS/NAF should correspond to your existing record. If you changed from NIE to DNI, missing history may need an identity-record correction rather than a new registration.
Look through every period. Check the scheme (régimen), employer or self-employed entry, fecha de alta, fecha de baja, effective dates and the days shown. An ongoing registration may not have a completed end date. Read the explanatory notes supplied with your own report for abbreviations.
Overlapping jobs do not create extra calendar days. With two simultaneous registrations, adding every row can exceed the actual total shown. Part-time indicators and benefit-specific contribution rules also need context: do not use a simple row sum to calculate pension or unemployment eligibility.
A vida laboral is not a contribution-base report or a benefit decision. For bases, choose Informe de bases de cotización in Importass. For pension/benefit questions use the responsible service, such as Tu Seguridad Social, rather than treating the employment-history total as a guaranteed entitlement.
Foreign employment periods are not included. The official report also excludes military service and substitute social service. It is not a global employment history. See Social Security's guide to understanding the report. International contribution coordination and benefits are separate questions for the competent agencies.
Use the official correction route. The report service lets you request additions or amendments; the TA.4 correction form and instructions provide a dedicated reference. Describe the specific missing employer/period or incorrect date and attach the evidence requested, such as contracts or payslips. Keep the request receipt.
For identity problems, correct personal data separately. Use Importass Datos personales, including the NIE-to-DNI option where applicable, and ask how to link existing history. Do not create a second Social Security number to recover an empty record.
If you have never been registered, a vida laboral may not be available. Look for Acreditación de no estar inscrito en la Seguridad Social among the official reports and ask the receiving organisation which evidence it accepts. A Social Security number alone does not prove an employment registration or contribution history.
If a recent change has not appeared, check with the responsible party. Ask your employer or authorised adviser to verify the registration and contact Social Security if it remains wrong. A correction request does not itself extend any application deadline. Download a fresh report once the correction is confirmed.
Access: official Importass report page opened; certificate/Cl@ve works, or phone matches the Social Security SMS record; an official alternative selected if needed.
Report: PDF opens; correct holder and issue date; full history or appropriate date range selected; employers, self-employed periods and start/end dates checked.
Corrections: missing periods or identity errors reported through the proper service; receipt saved; requesting organisation told if a correction is pending.
Privacy: original PDF stored securely and sent only to the organisation that genuinely needs it. It contains sensitive identity and employment information. Never send certificate backups or SMS codes with it.
Need another administrative step? Visit our free new-certificate services guide, certificate maintenance or all Spain guides.