International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates (ICVC) 011-22031026

The ICVC is one of 3 types of proof of vaccination produced by the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). It provides a secure record of COVID-19 vaccinations that is recognised internationally.

The ICVC:

• helps customers prove their COVID-19 vaccinations when travelling overseas
• cannot be used for personal identification
• does not replace the requirement for other travel documents such as passports, visas or additional proof of vaccination
• is available to customers who have at least one COVID-19 vaccine recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
• is not available if the customer has a medical contraindication recorded on the AIR. These customers can access an immunisation history statement for proof of their vaccinations

For details on travel requirements, customers can visit Smart Traveller and check the destination country government website.

Note: Services Australia only issue ICVCs to customers traveling to or from Australia. If a customer is residing overseas and not travelling to Australia, refer them to their:

• local health department, or
• traveling authority

Customers can get an ICVC if they have:

• a passport, and
• had at least one dose of an approved or recognised COVID-19 vaccine recorded on the AIR

ICVCs are free. Customers do not have to be enrolled with Medicare to request one.

Customers enrolled in Medicare can request an ICVC online through myGov using their linked:

• Medicare online account
• Express Plus Medicare mobile app

Once the customer has downloaded their ICVC, they can:

• save it:
• to their computer or mobile device
• in their Express Plus Medicare mobile app to use offline
• to Google Pay or Apple Wallet
• print a copy

If customers do not save their ICVC, they will have to enter their information again to re-request one.

Service Officers can print a copy of an ICVC already received by the customer, if the:

• passport, personal and vaccination details have not changed, and
• last ICVC was requested no more than 3 months earlier

Download the most recent ICVC version, and re-issue a copy from the Immunisation Document Screen (IDS) in the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR).

Customers not eligible for Medicare can request an ICVC online through myGov using their linked Individual Healthcare Identifiers (IHI) service.

Once the customer has downloaded their ICVC, they can:

• save it on their computer or mobile device, or
• print a copy

If customers:

• do not save their ICVC, they will have to enter their information again to re-request one
• cannot go online, they can get an ICVC by:
• contacting the AIR public line between Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm
• attending a service centre

The following information is required:

• the passport they wish to use to enter a foreign country
• identity documents if they need to update their name or date of birth details. For example, birth certificate or change of name certificate

Note: the AIR International Certificate phone line is open from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday (local time). At all other times it is closed. Out of Hours staff should only service customers that are warm transferred by the Australian Consulate. Customers can get their ICVC online by going to myGov or the Express Plus Medicare mobile app.

The ICVC shows:

• the customer's personal details recorded with Services Australia
• their passport information
• details of the COVID-19 vaccine/s received, such as the:
• brand and the date it was given
• country code of the country it was received in, and
• vaccine batch number
• a globally recognised QR code

See the Resources page for details of the fields on ICVCs.

Missing country code

When a vaccine administered overseas is recorded on the AIR, country of vaccination must be recorded.

If the country code is missing the vaccination will not show on the ICVC and the ICVC will not be available.

In these cases, the customer must contact their Australian vaccination provider and ask that they update the AIR with their overseas country of vaccination.

A care agency can request a manual ICVC on behalf of a child under 14 years of age in Out of Home Care.

Service Officers can only release information about an individual 14 years of age and over to a third party (including caseworkers) if:

• the individual provides verbal consent. If verbal consent is given:
• it is valid for that instance only, and
• the individual must pass authentication
• the parent or guardian has a legal arrangement in place, and it is:
• registered with Medicare, and
• recorded on Medicare CDMS. This includes Power of Attorney (POA) for health matters, or a guardianship order
• the parent or guardian has:
• completed an Authorisation to act on an incapacitated person's behalf for Medicare purposes form (MO050), and
• their authority is recorded on Medicare CDMS

The Resources contains a link to the MO050 form.

Customers with a long name or an 'only name' can request an ICVC.

Long names and only names should show correctly on ICVCs. An 'only name' enrolment is where the applicant has one name only. There is no first and last name.

The ICVC has an increased character limit for long names and can record only names to match the personal details on passports. See Table 4 on the Process page for details.

Note: ICVCs cannot be used in Australia as proof of vaccination, they are for international travel only. Do not tell a customer to request an ICVC if their name does not show correctly on their immunisation history statement.

The Document Verification Service (DVS) has scheduled and unscheduled outages. When these occur:

• customers and staff may be unable to request an International COVID-19 Vaccination Certificate
• an urgent Network News Update (NNU) Newsflash is published under 'Category : System Availability and Outages'
• staff will get an 'S' response in the DVS, see the DVS results table on the Resources page

Scheduled outages

Scheduled outages can be either full or intermittent.

Staff will get an 'S' response for the documents specified in the NNU Newsflash for:

• full outages, during the whole period
• intermittent outages, at any time during the outage

The specified documents may be available when staff try and can be requested as normal.

Unscheduled outages

When there is an unscheduled outage, it is unknown when the outage will be resolved.

Staff should check NNU Newsflash for updates.

Service Officers should help customers with online options before actioning requests to email ICVCs.

Service Officers can request an ICVC and email it to a customer where the customer:

• has been warm transferred from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), or
• is overseas and is unable to access online services

See Table 6 on the Process page for how to email ICVCs.

Service Officers should help customers with online options before actioning requests to email ICVCs.

ICVCs are only emailed to customers in Australia in exceptional circumstances.

In the first instance, Service Officers should ask customers to try to access their proof by:

• logging onto their Medicare online account through myGov or the Express Plus Medicare mobile app
• signing into the IHI service or My Health Record through myGov
• asking for one to be mailed. It can take up to 14 days for it to arrive
• visiting a service centre. See Resources page for a link to Office Locator

See Table 6 on the Process page for how to email ICVCs.