How to stay safe while travelling abroad

1. Check the measures in your destination country

• Each country may impose different measures on travellers. Make sure to inform yourself about the measures that apply in the country of your destination, but also in the countries through which you will be travelling. Before your departure, consult the website www.reopen-eu.be or the website of the FPS Foreign Affairs www.diplomatie.belgium.be, where you will find the latest travel advice per country. If you need a PCR test to travel, you can request it at www.mijngezondheid.belgie.be.
• Register your trip at TravellersOnline. That way, we will be able to assist you more quickly if you need any help while abroad.

2. Apply for your COVID certificates

If you are travelling abroad, you can apply for a COVID certificate. This is mandatory in many countries. There are three types of certificates:

• A vaccination certificate proves that you have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. You are fully vaccinated 2 weeks after your last vaccination dose, and if the vaccine is EMA-certified or Covishield.Vaccination certificates from non-EU countries are also accepted in Belgium under certain conditions, pending their equivalence agreement with the EU.

Attention: The validity date of your vaccination certificate may have expired. Therefore, please renew your certificate

Do you use the covid safe app? Open your app and press the button “check for new certificates” and sign in. The validity of your vaccination certificate will then be extended.

Did you download your vaccination certificate from a website or have it sent to you on paper? Is this certificate older than 1 year? Then it is best to download a new version or request a new mailing of your most recent, renewed vaccination certificate.

Recovery certificates and negative test certificates can of course expire. They always have a limited validity.

When produced in accordance with European rules, the vaccination certificates received a “technical signature” of 1 year. We have recently been allowed to renew the technical signature of all vaccination certificates and in the future this will also happen automatically 30 days before your vaccination certificate’s “birthday”. A renewal will then no longer be necessary.

• A recovery certificate shows that you have recovered from COVID-19. You have a positive result of a PCR test or a positive result of a rapid antigen test no older than 180 days performed by a health care professional and you no longer need to isolate.
• A test certificate is proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test result that is less than 72 hours old or RAT test result that is less than 36 hours old.

You can obtain your COVID certificate by:

• downloading the CovidSafeBE app on your smartphone
• downloading your certificate on www.mijngezondheid.belgie.be

At www.covidsafe.be, you can find more information, e.g. on how to apply for a paper vaccination certificate.