Medical Certificate in Rotterdam: Online, Same-Day from €34.99
- Certificate types covering the common Dutch use cases
- Doctors registered to assess cases in the Netherlands reviewing every case
- Same-day delivery, usually within 30 minutes on weekdays
- Full refund if the doctor cannot issue your certificate
- 🇳🇱 EUR pricing
- AVG (Dutch GDPR) & Wet verbetering Poortwachter
- Accepted by schools, clubs, airlines & insurers
Yes. You can get a medical certificate in Rotterdam online, assessed by a registered doctor and returned the same day in most cases. Pricing is flat at €34.99 for any of the six certificate types, sent as a PDF. It records what the doctor assessed, for use with an employer, school, club or insurer in the Netherlands. Dutch sickness absence runs through your employer's bedrijfsarts, so this suits travel, study, sport and insurance rather than a statutory sick note.
Last updated: 10 September 2026
Reviewed by Dr. Anjum Ilahi (MBBS, MS) GMC · Cardiology and MRCPI
✓ 250+ customers served in Rotterdam
Getting a Medical Certificate in Rotterdam
Rotterdam is home to Europe's largest port, and its economy is built around logistics, shipping and a growing technology sector, alongside a substantial services and public sector. Many of these employers operate internationally, and some — particularly foreign-owned operations — ask staff for a doctor's certificate in situations where a purely domestic Dutch employer typically wouldn't, since standard Dutch sick leave usually runs through a ziekmelding rather than a certificate.
Erasmus University Rotterdam is one of the country's larger universities, and illness affecting exams, coursework or a placement is generally handled through the university's own process, with evidence requirements set independently of any national scheme.
Rotterdam has no clinic or office for this service to send you to: everything happens online, reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in the Netherlands, regardless of which part of the country you're in. If getting to an in-person appointment during working hours is the obstacle, this is built to remove that step — not to replace a doctor visit you actually need.
Rotterdam is the Dutch city where the limits of an online certificate come up most often, because so much of the work here is regulated work. A medical fitness certificate for seagoing or inland shipping — the geneeskundige verklaring zeevaart — may only be issued by a doctor appointed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, and the rules are explicit that it cannot come from your huisarts, a consulting doctor or your company doctor. Appointed examining doctors hold clinics in Rotterdam precisely because the port needs them, and if that is the document you need, that is where to go. Offshore and diving medicals sit under comparable regimes. What we assess falls outside all of them.
Around 182,000 people work in the port area on a given day, on the Port of Rotterdam's own figures, in operations that don't stop at five o'clock: container terminals, tank storage and control rooms run continuous rosters. Coming back to that kind of work after a long absence is where the Return to Work certificate gets used most here — not as clearance, but as something in writing you can bring to the conversation. The boundary matters. Under the Wet verbetering poortwachter your employer's bedrijfsarts draws up a probleemanalyse by around week six, and you and your employer agree a plan van aanpak within two weeks of that; the bedrijfsarts advises on what you can do and the employer decides. A certificate supports that discussion, it never substitutes for it.
Port, logistics and shipping
Europe's largest port drives much of Rotterdam's economy, alongside a growing technology sector. International and foreign-owned operations sometimes ask for a certificate in situations a purely domestic Dutch employer wouldn't.
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Illness affecting exams, coursework or a placement is generally handled through the university's own process, with evidence requirements set independently of any national scheme.
Club and gym clearance
Rotterdam sports clubs and gyms may ask for a health declaration or medical clearance before you join or compete, particularly for contact sport.
Shift work and irregular hours
Port and logistics work often runs shifts, which can make finding a same-day in-person appointment harder. Where that's the obstacle, an online assessment is a reasonable route — it isn't a substitute for care you actually need.
All Certificate Types Available in the Netherlands
Every certificate type is reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in the Netherlands. Because standard Dutch sick leave works differently from most countries (see above), check which certificate actually matches your situation before ordering: for many people, the general medical, fit-to-fly, or sports fitness certificate will be the relevant one, not the sick-leave-style certificate. If you are unsure which type applies to you, the assessment form will ask about your situation before any payment is taken.
Sick Leave Certificate
For specific documented needs outside the standard Dutch ziekmelding/bedrijfsarts system. Useful for supporting a return-to-work conversation, or where a school, insurer, or foreign institution specifically asks for a doctor's certificate. Not a substitute for reporting sick to your employer or for a bedrijfsarts assessment, and not something most Dutch employees will need for ordinary short-term absence.
From €34.99Sports Fitness Certificate
For Dutch sports clubs, federations, and competitions that require medical clearance before you can register or take part. Commonly requested for contact sports, competitive leagues, and gradings, and sometimes for junior members joining a club for the first time. Valid 12 months from issue.
From €34.99General Fitness Certificate
For gym membership sign-up and personal training in the Netherlands where a health declaration or medical clearance is requested by the club or trainer, particularly for higher-intensity programmes or where pre-existing conditions are relevant.
From €34.99General Medical Certificate
For insurance claims, visa applications, legal proceedings, and education requirements in the Netherlands: purposes that sit outside the standard employer sick-leave system entirely and are among the most common reasons people in the Netherlands request a certificate from us.
From €34.99How It Works in the Rotterdam
Complete assessment
3-5 minutes. Select your certificate type, confirm the Netherlands as your country, and answer relevant health questions. No payment yet, and the form will flag if a certificate isn't the right fit for a standard sick-leave situation.
Doctor reviews your case
Reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in the Netherlands, during business hours (9am-6pm CET/CEST, Monday-Friday). May request more information before deciding, and will only issue where it's clinically appropriate.
Receive your PDF
Emailed same day, usually within 30 minutes of approval, with doctor credentials and a verification reference the recipient can use to check authenticity.
Who Might Ask for a Medical Certificate in Rotterdam
Rotterdam employers generally manage sick leave through a ziekmelding and, for longer absences, a bedrijfsarts — not a doctor's certificate. The institutions below are the ones most likely to specifically ask for one.
International and foreign-owned employers
Some Rotterdam employers with foreign ownership or overseas reporting lines ask for a doctor's certificate in circumstances a domestic Dutch employer, working through ziekmelding, generally wouldn't. A certificate reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in the Netherlands can meet that specific request.
Erasmus University and schools
Requested by some schools and by Erasmus University Rotterdam as supporting evidence for a specific absence or extenuating-circumstances request. Each institution sets its own requirements.
Sports clubs and gyms
Clearance requested before joining a club or gym, particularly for contact sport or higher-intensity training. The club or trainer sets the requirement, not a national rule.
Insurers
General medical certificates for insurance claims and similar documentation requests, where an insurer specifically asks for independent medical confirmation.
Netherlands Pricing: All Certificate Types
| Certificate Type | Our Price | Typical Private Doctor Visit |
|---|---|---|
| Sick Leave Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Sports Fitness Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| General Fitness Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Fit to Fly Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Return to Work Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| General Medical Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
Private consultation costs are typical ranges for a standard visit sought outside the Netherlands' standard employer/ziekmelding/bedrijfsarts system, and vary by location, provider, and whether a specialist is involved. Costs for a bedrijfsarts assessment itself are normally covered by your employer, not by you.
Netherlands Legal Snapshot: What Applies in Rotterdam
Sick-leave and certificate rules are set nationally, so what follows applies in Rotterdam exactly as it does anywhere else in Netherlands.
Yes — you can get a medical certificate (doctor's note) in the Netherlands online, reviewed by a registered doctor and usually issued the same day, from €34.99. In the Netherlands, employees generally do not give their employer a doctor's certificate to justify sick leave. Instead, you report sick directly to your employer, a process known as a "ziekmelding," and for longer absences your employer engages an independent company doctor, the bedrijfsarts, who assesses your fitness for work without being told your diagnosis. Because of this, our sick-leave-style certificate is only useful for specific situations that sit outside this system (see the table below). Our general medical, fit-to-fly, and sports fitness certificates cover the purposes most commonly needed by people in the Netherlands: insurance, travel, education, visas, and sport. In everyday English this is often just called a doctor's note for the Netherlands, even where the official local term differs.
| How sick leave normally works | You report sick directly to your employer, a process known as a "ziekmelding," following your employer's internal sickness policy. No doctor's certificate is required or generally expected for this step. |
|---|---|
| Longer absences | If the absence continues, your employer is required to engage a bedrijfsarts (independent company doctor), typically by around week 6 of the absence, to assess your fitness for work and advise on reintegration. |
| Diagnosis privacy | Your employer is not legally permitted to ask you for your diagnosis. The bedrijfsarts reports only what is relevant to work capacity and reintegration, not your medical details. |
| When a certificate from us is relevant | For specific documented needs outside the ziekmelding/bedrijfsarts relationship: for example, some schools, foreign institutions or employers that specifically request a doctor's certificate, or to support a return-to-work conversation. |
| Long-term incapacity | After roughly two years of incapacity, the Dutch social security agency (UWV) becomes involved in assessing longer-term work incapacity and benefit entitlement. |
| Governing framework | Wet verbetering Poortwachter (the Gatekeeper Improvement Act), which sets out employer and employee obligations during sickness absence, alongside the Dutch Civil Code. |
| Data protection law | AVG, the Dutch name for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). |
This works differently from most countries: if you assume a certificate is required for standard Dutch sick leave, it generally is not: a ziekmelding to your employer is the normal process, and a bedrijfsarts (not a GP-style certificate) manages longer absences. Our sick-leave-style certificate is designed for the specific situations described above, not as a substitute for the ziekmelding process, a bedrijfsarts assessment, or UWV involvement in long-term incapacity cases.
Read the full Netherlands rules, glossary and national FAQ →
Our Netherlands Medical Team
Every Netherlands certificate is reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in the Netherlands. A clinician will only issue a certificate after genuinely assessing your case, and only if it is clinically appropriate to do so; if it isn't, you receive a full refund rather than a certificate you cannot use.
Registered practitioners, not a call centre.
Every doctor is independently verified against their national medical council before they see a single patient - including for patients in Rotterdam.
Dr. Ab F.
Reg. #9913425901Dr. Aernout S.
Reg. #29036681901Dr. Igor T.
Reg. #89048686301Dr. Michiel W.
Reg. #49065379401Medical Certificates in Rotterdam: Common Questions
No. The assessment is completed online and reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in the Netherlands, so where you are in the country makes no difference to the process or the price. This page exists because people search for their own city.
Generally, no. Dutch sick leave normally starts with a ziekmelding — reporting sick directly to your employer under their own sickness policy — and for longer absences your employer engages an independent company doctor, the bedrijfsarts, rather than asking you for a certificate. A certificate from us fits specific situations outside that process, such as a foreign-owned employer's own documentation request or supporting a return-to-work conversation, not standard short-term sick leave.
Our certificate is €34.99 flat, including the doctor's review, the PDF and its verification reference. A typical private doctor visit sought for these situations in the Netherlands commonly falls in the €50-€120 range. It isn't a substitute for care — if you need to be examined or treated, see a doctor in person.
It can support one, but the university sets its own evidence requirements and may ask for a specific form or wording. Check what your faculty requires first, and tell us who the certificate is for so the wording can be matched to the request.
Same day, usually within 30 minutes of the doctor approving your case during business hours. Some cases take longer where the doctor needs more information from you before deciding.
No. Medical examinations for maritime work may only be carried out by doctors appointed or recognised by the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, and the guidance states specifically that this cannot be your GP, a consulting doctor or your company doctor. The resulting geneeskundige verklaring zeevaart is a regulated document with its own examination protocol, and there are appointed examining doctors in Rotterdam who do exactly this work. If a crewing agent or shipowner has asked for one, book with an appointed doctor rather than ordering anything online.
It's the one that matches the situation, at €34.99 like the other five types. Be clear about what it does, though: it records a doctor's written conclusion about your fitness to resume work as of a date, which is useful documentation to bring to a reintegration discussion. It does not override your bedrijfsarts, who under the Wet verbetering poortwachter is the one advising on what you can and cannot do, nor does it bind your employer's decision. For a long absence, the certificate is a supporting document alongside that process, not a shortcut through it.
All six are €34.99 — Sick Leave, Sports Fitness, General Fitness, Fit to Fly, Return to Work and General Medical. The price covers the doctor's review, the issued PDF and its verification reference, and it's the same figure everywhere in the Netherlands. So the choice between types is purely about which one matches what you were asked for, not about cost. If you're unsure which applies, describe who's asking and what they've requested.
Cases are reviewed by a doctor during working hours, so something submitted at 3am is picked up when review starts rather than in the night itself. Once a case is approved, the document typically follows inside half an hour. That tends to suit continuous-roster jobs: complete the assessment as your shift ends and the paperwork lands while you're asleep. A case that prompts a query from the reviewing doctor runs longer, since the clock then depends on when you answer.
Start by separating two claims. For standard Dutch sick leave they have a point in practice, though not for the reason they think — Dutch employers work through a ziekmelding and the bedrijfsarts, so no certificate from anyone, examined or not, is the operative document there. For everything else, the independence of the assessing doctor is the feature rather than the flaw: the KNMG's whole position is that declarations should come from a doctor who is not treating you. If the request came from a club, insurer, course provider or an employer abroad, point them at the verification reference on the certificate.
A certificate anyone can check - in seconds.
Every certificate is issued by a doctor registered with their national medical council, after a real assessment, and carries a reference code that resolves instantly - whether your employer is in Dublin, Berlin or Warsaw.
- ✓Issued only after a genuine clinical review
- ✓Unique reference code, checkable by anyone
- ✓Covers sick leave, fitness-to-work & carer's leave
- ✓Delivered as a signed PDF within the hour
