International Travel Certificate Available from Tuesday

[MelMel]

Thanks. I just tried to generate a certificate, but it tells me that I've entered my passport number in the wrong format. I just entered whats there: Single alpha followed by 7 digits; have been using it for about 7 years!

Rather than wait on line for a long time, ... any suggestions from anyone? I note in the example they give on the site the passport has 2 alphas at the start.

I linked my earlier today. My passport is N followed by 7 digits, didn’t have any problems Passport issued in Melbourne in 2014

 

[Pushka]

I guess it depends on where you get it done but in QLD at state based providers you get a little pointless card with those details. Mine has the batch number and expiry date of that batch written in by the person who administered the jab. I guess it's reassuring to note that the batch number written on the card matches the international certificate (as one would expect).

I never really thought much of it but after a google search you can even find when a specific batch release was completed:

Batch release assessment of COVID-19 vaccines

COVID-19 vaccine batch release information is now available

www.tga.gov.au

For those who've had AstraZeneca you can also match the batch number to the above and see if you had the overseas or Australian made version.

I received batch numbers for the first but not the second on the day. Neither showed in the original immunisation certificate but they do in the International one.

 

[love_the_life]

VDS-NC checker validated my certificate through QR scan. Saved a screenshot. Interesting that batch numbers are inserted as well.

Yes, there was a discussion about some countries requiring the batch numbers so it is good to see them included.

 

[RooFlyer]

I linked my earlier today. My passport is N followed by 7 digits, didn’t have any problems Passport issued in Melbourne in 2014

Thanks. One of those things. No urgency, so I'll give then a week or two to sort it out

 

[Quickstatus]

More than 2Jabs also recorded on CovidIntvaxCert:

 

[Amanad78]

I called yesterday as I have a UK passport with no visa, they weren't able to link it. Was on the phone for 1.5 hours before talking to them then 30 mins trying to do the linking. Was advised to call back in a few days. I don't fly for another 10 weeks so plenty of time to sort it out.
Aus passport sorted very easily through the Medicare app.

 

[Mattg]

I got this error message when I tried downloading mine:



I was vaccinated in New Zealand, so I guess this means my GP in Australia didn't add the country code correctly when they added my immunisation record to the AIR? I've contacted my GP to see if they can fix it.

Does anyone know if this certificate is required to fly to Australia? I'll be flying AKL-SYD in two weeks.

 

[Telemachus]

I got this error message when I tried downloading mine:

View attachment 262621

I was vaccinated in New Zealand, so I guess this means my GP in Australia didn't add the country code correctly when they added my immunisation record to the AIR? I've contacted my GP to see if they can fix it.

Does anyone know if this certificate is required to fly to Australia? I'll be flying AKL-SYD in two weeks.

That is quite annoying but ought to be fixable quickly. No 100% certainty but you should be fine if you end up relying on your foreign (NZ) certificate – presumably Pfizer? – just as thousands of returning citizens will have to do pending AIR registration post-arrival.

The online guidance from Smartraveller and Home Affairs echoes the 1 Oct Ministerial announcement that there are 4 TGA-approved vaccines plus 2 recognised for international travel purposes. In prose that has the same Catch-22 features as we have noted before on the Services Australia page dealing with foreign jabs, both Smartraveller & DHA talk about registration with AIR having to be done in Australia before obtaining the AU certificate, but you’ve obviously found a work-around for that!

 

[henrus]

Does anyone know if this certificate is required to fly to Australia? I'll be flying AKL-SYD in two weeks.

Singapore airlines published the following

"Have a vaccination certificate issued by a national or state-level public health authority, or an accredited vaccination provider, in the form of a digital or paper certificate. A letter will not be accepted."

https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/media-centre/news-alert/?id=kuprq93z

I'd assume they'd have some idea what they're talking about so if you show your NZ certificate you should be fine instead or even the Australian domestic version. After all the QR code is more designed for Australians going to countries like Europe or Singapore which require a QR code.

 

[burmans]

A bit unfortunate you can’t add to Wallet.

 

[RMB513]

I have down loaded the vaccine passport which is associated with my passport. What happens when you have two current passports?

 

[justinbrett]

A bit unfortunate you can’t add to Wallet.

Sure you can. File>Print. Fold, place in wallet.

 

[harrribo]

took me 3 minutes to get this certificate, from the time I opened my.gov. ->Medicare Initial ERROR was caused by finding my Medicare Middle name was just listed as an initial letter , so needed to be filled out in FULL middle name as on passport, to get the International Covid-19 Vaccination Certificate . - Worth noting that I did this on my PC first , and had to repeat process on mobile phone to have a .pdf that I could store on the phone

 

[Guvner]

Did mine on my phone (Medicare app) in 2 minutes. simples.

 

[Mattg]

The Home Affairs website lists the following requirements for using foreign vaccination certificates when returning to Australia:

If you were vaccinated outside of Australia, you must obtain a certificate from the government of the country you were vaccinated in or the recognised vaccine provider.

Your vaccination certificate must have been issued by a national or state/provincial-level authority or an accredited vaccination provider. Paper and digital certificates are equally acceptable.

Your certificate must be in English. A certificate is also acceptable if it is written in multiple languages and one of those languages is English.

Your certificate must show, at a minimum:

• your name as it appears in your passport
• either your date of birth or your passport number
• the vaccine brand name, and
• either the date you got each dose or the date on which you completed a full course of immunisation.

If your vaccination certificate doesn't meet all these requirements, you won’t qualify as a fully vaccinated traveller.

Keep a hard copy or an electronic copy of your Vaccination Certificate. Airlines will check this when you check-in to your flight.

Department of Home Affairs Website

Home Affairs brings together Australia's federal law enforcement, national and transport security, criminal justice, emergency management, multicultural affairs, settlement services and immigration and border-related functions, working together to keep Australia safe.

covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au

I still can't download my Australian ICVC and only have the Australian digital certificate and a letter from the NZ government. The instructions on the Home Affairs website specify that you need a certificate, and although they don't specifically say letters are not accepted, Singapore Airlines has released detailed information and says it won't accept letters - so other airlines may have similar policies.

The NZ government will not start issuing COVID-19 vaccination certificates until late November. My letter from the NZ government does at least contain all the required information, so does anyone know if that will be accepted for returning to Australia?

My flight is next week. I'm still waiting to hear back from my GP about getting the country code added to my immunisation record on the AIR, but until that happens I'm not sure what more I can do.

 

[Anna]

What happens when you have two current passports?

You have to ring up to get them to link a second certificate to your second passport and it will be mailed to you, so it will arrive in 5-10 business days.

Or I have read one account that someone emailed Senator Reynolds' office and got a call back next day without having to wait in the phone queues.

 

[Chalkie]

Just thought I'd add a data point as an AU passport holder (Canadian PR) who was vaccinated in Canada, where I currently reside.

I called my GP in Australia and asked if he was able to update the AIR with my Canadian vaccination details. He said yes, no problem, and I wasn't his first (former) patient who had inquired about this. He said send pdfs/images of the original documents I had, which were the official record of vaccination generated by the British Columbia online health system (which shows, dates of vaccination, brands and batch/lot numbers of the Covid vaccines), the little card issued at vaccination, and in the case of my first vaccination (with AZ at a pharmac_), the pharmac_ receipt. He said these were all in order as proof of overseas vaccination and his practice would update the AIR.

I received a notice from MyGov within 24 hours that the AIR was updated. I logged into MyGov then Medicare and downloaded my digital certificate, immunisation history statement and, after entering my passport details, my international certificate. This was all incredibly easy and straightforward.

The reason I was concerned to ensure that I had an AU international certificate "attached" to my AU passport was in case I had "does not compute" encounters in international travel, by showing an AU passport but a Canadian vaccination certificate. I am heading to the US in late November (after the proof of vaccination requirement for foreign travellers comes into effect for the US) and I thought it would be entirely more straightforward for my passport and proof of vaccination details to all align. I will carry the Canadian proof as well (Canada is in the process of issuing its own international travel certificate of Covid-19 prophylaxis) just in case I'm asked for that too at some point.

 

[Mattg]

My flight is next week. I'm still waiting to hear back from my GP about getting the country code added to my immunisation record on the AIR, but until that happens I'm not sure what more I can do.

Update on this - I contacted the AIR enquiries line and after waiting almost an hour on hold, they said they couldn't help and to speak to my GP. So I contacted my GP again, and was told that they tried to amend my record but that they could not find any place to add a country code. So they've basically told me "sorry, can't help" and I still don't have a certificate.

 

[Guvner]

Might need to change GP's...

 

[nancypants]

Forgive me if this is sucking eggs but for non-Medicare card holders about 98% of the certificate issues I come across are down to the immunisations not being linked to an IHI number. Once you have an IHI it’s easy to link them but without it, it’s really pot luck whether the populate properly in AIR