NHS Covid Passport For Travel – soon after the start of the pandemic in the world, a lot of things changed, and even after 2 ½ years, those things are not going back to normal as they used to before the spread of COVID-19.
One of those changes is international traveling. For nearly one year, the whole world was under a lockdown situation where regular people who wanted to travel to other countries as tourists were not allowed to enter most countries in the world.
Then countries started opening their borders with some rules and regulations, and one of those rules and regulations is getting at least two doses of the COVID vaccine. Different companies have launched different vaccines in the last two and a half years for COVID-19, and not every vaccine is valid in most countries.
To save citizens of the United Kingdom from the situation of the validity of the COVID vaccine, the National Health Service came up with NHS COVID passports for travel. Today we will discuss everything regarding the NHS COVID passport for travel.
What is an NHS COVID passport for travel?
Before we talk about anything else, let’s first discuss what an NHS COVID passport is for travel.
The National Health Service launched the NHS COVID passport for travel to share your coronavirus status records securely and authentically.
Anyone in the world can create fake COVID vaccine status documents, but it is impossible to create an NHS COVID passport. It is the official record shared by the National Health Service so that you can easily travel throughout the world.
The NHS Covid passport allows you to show the details regarding your COVID-19 vaccine and COVID-19 testing to others while you are traveling abroad.
Eligibility for NHS COVID Passport for Travel
Well, if you have understood the basics of COVID passports for travel, it is time for you to learn about the eligibility criteria.
The National Health Service is not going to issue NHS COVID passports to every citizen of the United Kingdom. You must be following the below-given criteria.
- To be eligible for an NHS COVID passport for travel, you must be at least 12 years older.
- The National Health Service is not going to issue any NHS COVID passports for two children above the age of 5 and below the age of 12.
- If you are above the age of 5 and below the age of 12, then you can ask the National Health Service to issue the NHS COVID passports for travel, and they will send them to you by post.
- To be eligible for an NHS COVID passport for travel, you must have either your vaccination status or a positive COVID test report within the last 180 days.
- People who are claiming NHS COVID passports for travel based on a positive PCR test should get vaccinated within the next 180 days to renew their passports.
- The National Health Service is not going to issue a fresh NHS COVID passport for travel based on a medical exemption.
Eligible vaccines to get NHS COVID Passport
The National Health Service issued a list of COVID exchanges that are eligible for NHS COVID passports. Kindly remember not every vaccine launched in the world for COVID-19 is not eligible to get the NHS gold passport. You are eligible to claim an NHS COVID passport for travel based on a vaccine approved in the United Kingdom.
- Oxford/AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria)
- Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty)
- Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)
- Moderna (Spikevax)
- Institute of India (Covishield)
- Bharat Biotech (Covaxin)
- Sinovac (CoronaVac)
- Beijing Institute of Biological Products (Sinopharm BIBP)
If you received a Sinopharm vaccine, your evidence must show that it was manufactured by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products (BIBP). Other Sinopharm manufacturers are not accepted for this service.
The National Health Service has a facility to issue NHS COVID passports for travel once you get the first dose of the COVID vaccine, but you should check the eligibility criteria of the specific country you are going to visit.
Some countries do not allow visitors to enter their country without getting at least two shots of covid vaccine. There can be an exemption, but the exemption is going to be photo vaccines with a single dose.
Different Ways to Get an NHS COVID Passport for Travel
Before we move ahead, let’s first discuss the different ways to get a fresh NHS COVID passport for travel. The National Health Service has different ways you can get your NHS Covid Passport.
There are two different ways you can use to get your LHS covert passport for travel. you can select one depending on your convenience and eligibility.
- If you are above the age of 13 in the United Kingdom and you are eligible to get NHS COVID passports for travel, then you can use the official mobile application of the National Health Service to get your passport.
- Everyone below the age of 12 in the United Kingdom must apply for an offline NHS COVID passport for travel. You can open it to receive it in a big print version, an audio version, or a simple print format.
People above the age of 13 can opt for any option they want to get an NHS COVID passport. The National Health Service does not allow people below the age of 12 to get an NHS COVID passport for travel online due to security reasons.
What is the expiry date of the NHS COVID passport for travel?
Your NHS COVID passport for travel is not valid for your whole life. To ensure the authenticity of the NHS COVID passport for travel, the National Health Service created an expiry date of 180 days. Kindly remember that your COVID passport for travel is going to expire after 180 days, not the status of your vaccination. You can simply regenerate or create a new copy of the NHS COVID passport without getting vaccinated once again.
I was vaccinated abroad. What should I do?
The National Health Service has mentioned on its official website that you can ask for an NHS COVID passport if you were vaccinated while you were living abroad. The National Health Service has issued a specific list of approved vaccines. You can check that list in the above-given article. The National Health Service might take around five days to update your record on its official website and generate a passport for you.
