FCDO Advices Travellers on the Use of Printed NHS Covid Pass

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) has amended its travel advice for a number of European countries, warning that travelers using a paper document to demonstrate their vaccination status must make sure it is dated after 1st November.

The change affects NHS Covid Pass PDF printouts but not the digital version, which was recently recognized by the EU as equivalent to the bloc’s Digital COVID Certificate.

Travelers with forms dated before 1st November should print a new one, according to the FCDO.

Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Malta, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and the Netherlands — as well as Switzerland and Turkey – have all received updates thus far.

The amended FCDO recommendation reads as follows: “If you are travelling with a printed PDF proof of vaccination status, it must date from November 1 to ensure that the certificate can be scanned successfully.

“Your NHS appointment card from vaccination centers is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate your vaccine status.”