Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

COVID-19

EXPLAINED: What people in Denmark need to know about the EU Covid travel certificate

Denmark's coronapas doubles as an EU Covid travel certificate, but if you're travelling there are a few things you need to know before you go.

Published: 29 June 2021 18:11 CEST
EXPLAINED: What people in Denmark need to know about the EU Covid travel certificate
A traveller displays the Belgian version of the app. Photo: Eric Lalmand/AFP

How can I get a EU Covid travel certificate? 

Anyone who has downloaded the Danish coronapas app and had it validated with a test or vaccination can switch it to “foreign travel mode” by clicking on the pass icon at the top right of the screen.

A question pops up saying “where will you use the pass?”, and if you click “overseas travel” or utlandsrejse.

The app will generate a new QR code that is compatible with European standards and can communicate with readers and technology developed for the same purpose in other EU countries. It will also automatically apply the different criteria required for EU travel. 

You can see how to switch on this video below. It’s in Danish, but it shows how to toggle between the Danish and EU pass.   (thanks to Frederiksberg Library).

You can swipe up the pass to show on what basis you have a valid EU Covid travel certificate. 

READ ALSO: 

How do I know if my EU Covid travel certificate is valid where I’m going? 

Unfortunately, unlike the Danish coronapas, when you switch your app to “overseas travel” mode, the international QR code no longer comes with a big green tick telling you and others that it is valid. 

Instead it contains necessary key information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, relevant information about vaccine/ test/recovery and a unique identifier.

This can then be used by border guards at the country you are entering to check whether you are allowed to enter.

So it is up to you to check that the test, vaccination or immunity status you have is valid. 

The Danish foreign ministry has made an excellent pop up map which gives a guide to what the entry requirements are in EU countries. 

Is there anything in particular to watch out for? 

Some countries, such as Iceland, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Slovakia, do not currently accept negative rapid tests for entry. Denmark’s coronapas system only keeps and displays the most recent test you have taken. So if you have taken a rapid test, you have to take a new PCR test before travelling to these countries. 

Countries also vary over whether a test result needs to be 48 hours or 72 hours old to be valid. 

There are also differences in what the requirements are for a valid vaccination, with Austria, for instance, only accepting that you are fully vaccinated 21 days after your final dose, compared to 14 days in Denmark. 

In Italy, you are considered vaccinated 14 days after just your first dose, and in Austria 22 days after it. 

Finally, there are differences in how long you have to wait after a positive PCR test to be considered immune. 

In France it is 15 days, in Denmark 14 days. In France, immunity lasts for six months, in Denmark eight months. 
 

Do I need an EU Covid travel certificate to travel? 

No. You generally just need proof of a negative Covid-19 test, vaccination, or recovery from a Covid-19 infection. Some countries do not even require that. The Covid travel certificate is intended to make proving this easier and faster. 

Can I print out my EU Covid travel certificate? 

Yes, and the Danish health authorities recommend that you do so, in case you lose your phone, or it runs out of batteries at crucial moments. You should be able to print the document directly from your smartphone, or else take a screenshot and save it as a PDF, which you can send to your computer for printing. 

Can I use an EU Covid travel certificate in the same way as a coronapas to enter cafés etc? 

On July 1st, the certificate is only being launched for travel and border control, but the EU is encouraging member states to also accept each other’s corona passes for domestic use. 

Denmark already allows travellers from other EU countries to use the EU Covid travel certificate in the same way as a Danish coronapas.

But it is quite unclear how many other countries are doing this. France, for example, insists on people having a French pass for access to nightclubs, festivals etc. 

What happens if your EU Covid travel certificate stops being valid while you are abroad? 

If your certificate is valid on the basis of a negative test, it is likely to stop being valid while you are abroad. If you are in a “green” or “yellow” EU country and are only travelling back to Denmark, then this shouldn’t be a problem, as you will not need a test to return home. 

If, however, you want to travel onwards to another country, you may need to take a test in another EU country. Test centres internationally should then be able to issue you with an EU Covid travel certificate, either on paper or digitally. 

What is Denmark’s coronapas? 

Denmark’s coronapas is a digital document showing that the holder is vaccinated, previously infected (immune) or has tested negative for Covid-19 within the past 72 hours. 

It can be accessed either the pre-existing MinSundhed app, which has been used as a platform for corona passports since March, or through the dedicated coronapas app launched at the end of May. 

Unlike the old app, Coronapas gives access to a page which shows a QR code with a green banner if the passport is valid.

How do I get a coronapas? 

You can download the coronapas app from either the Apple app store or from Google Play. It can be installed on Android phones with operating system Android 5 or higher and iPhones with operating system iOS 9 or higher.

To log into the app, you need to have NemID, the Danish digital ID system. 

To get a NemID, you need to have a Danish CPR number, and to get a Danish CPR number you need to get a registration certificate at one of Denmark’s International Citizen Service centres. 

Once you have set up the app, you choose a four digit pin and can opt to use the phone’s fingerprint or face recognition to log in.
 
Once the app has your identity, it will automatically receive your vaccination status, immunity status and results of any vaccinations uploaded to the Danish health system. 
 
When is a Danish coronapas valid in Denmark? 
 
Your coronapas is valid 14 days after your final vaccine dose (which is also your first vaccine dose if you have been vaccinated with the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It will then remain valid for at least eight months. 
 
Your coronapas is valid in Denmark for 72 hours after receiving a negative PCR or rapid test result.  
 
If you have had a positive PCR test taken, and you have recovered from the infection, you can have a valid pass from 14 days after the test and for eight months going forward. 
 
 

 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Do you really need to own a car living in Denmark?

Denmark is one of the most expensive countries in the world for owning a car, its public transport is one of the best, and if you want to cycle, it's mostly flat. There are few places where it makes more sense to ditch your car.

Published: 10 May 2024 16:35 CEST
Do you really need to own a car living in Denmark?

The case against owning a car in Denmark

Denmark’s Vehicle Registration Tax, together with VAT, more than doubles the cost of buying a petrol or diesel car, making owning a car considerably more expensive in Denmark than in its neighbours Germany and Sweden, although electric cars that cost less than 436,000 kroner are currently tax-exempt.

If you use a car to commute into Copenhagen, Aarhus, or Odense, you will also often find yourself stuck in traffic jams, with the Danish Roads Directorate estimating that Danes lose 365,000 hours to traffic jams every weekday, with the Motorring 3 motorway circling Copenhagen, other major access roads to Copenhagen, the E20 south of Odense, and the E45 on either side of Aarhus the most congested roads in the country.

Parking can also be expensive in Danish cities, costing as much as 500 Danish kroner for 24 hours for non-residents. 

How easy is it to get around inside Danish cities without a car? 

Denmark is a cycling nation.

According to Visit Denmark, in 2022, 25 percent of all trips under five kilometers across Denmark were done by bike, and 16 percent of all journeys of any kind. 

Copenhagen’s aim is for fully half of all trips to work and education to be done on bike by 2025. In 2019, the city was already on 44 percent. It’s a similar situation for smaller cities like Aarhus, Odense, Vejle, Aalborg and Esbjørg.

But even if you can’t or don’t want to cycle, you can still get by in most places without a car, thanks to Denmark’s excellent public transport networks.

Public transport in Denmark has significantly improved only over the last five years, with several new metro lines and light rail systems opening. 

With the Cityringen (M3) and Harbour lines (M4) opening in 2019 and 2020, respectively the Copenhagen Metro can now get you to most places in the city. 

Denmark scrapped its city tram systems in the 1960s and 1970s, with cities like Aarhus and Odense instead shifting to buses for public transport.

There has recently been a recent revival, however, with Aarhus, Odense and Copenhagen all opening or building new tram/light rail systems.

Odense Letbane opened in 2022, making it easy to get to the out of town shopping area where IKEA and other superstores are based and also to the new hospital. Aarhus Letbane opened in 2017, and takes passengers all the way up the coast around the city, from Odder in the south to Grenaa in the north.

Copenhagen next year plans to open a light-rail system which will travel in a ring around the city’s outer suburbs linking Lundtofte in the north to Ishøj in the southwest. 

This will end one of the big drawbacks of the city’s “five finger” transport corridor plan: that while it is quick to travel from the outer suburbs to the centre and vice versa, it is complicated to travel between suburbs which are on a different transport corridors, for example from Albertslund to Herlev, or from Birkerød to Buddinge. 

Even before that opens, however, so long as you are only travelling in and out from the centre, it is extremely convenient to get from central Copenhagen to its suburbs and surrounding towns using the S-trains, which run from 5am until half-past midnight on weekdays, and all night on Fridays and Saturdays. 

This means you can eat out and party with your friends until the small hours, and still normally get back to Køge, Høje Taastrup, Frederikssund, Farum and Hillerød, the furthest out stops. 

Where might you struggle without a car? 

Plans for a light railway or tram between Vejle and Billund, or between the so-called Triangle Region between the cities of Vejle, Kolding and Fredericia have so far come to nothing, and even though the local and regional bus and train services can be good, it’s certainly tougher to survive without a car if you don’t live on Zealand, near Aarhus, or perhaps on Funen. 

Many people do in fact live without owning a car even in the more far-flung villages on Jutland, and on islands like Bornholm, Lolland and Falster.

They still manage to get everywhere they want to go, but it does require waiting. It’s certainly possible to live without a car, but you might feel limited in where to and when you can travel. 

SHOW COMMENTS