Which medical certificate do I need? Find the right document in three questions

An employer checks a sickness absence. A club checks you can take part safely. An airline checks you can fly. A consulate checks a public health rule set by its government. Each one decides which documents it accepts.

That is why the tool starts with the requester, not with the certificate name. Start with who asked, and the right document usually follows.

Schools, colleges and clubs each decide which certificates they accept. Employers can often ask for more than the legal minimum. Airlines and consulates often publish their own forms. So the safest first step is always the same: ask the person who wants the certificate exactly what they need.

Some documents sit outside this list on purpose. A visa health certificate, a driving licence medical and many competitive sports certificates follow rules set by a government or federation. Those usually need a named form, a named doctor or a test. The tool tells you so and points you to the right place.

If the person asking has named a specific form, doctor, clinic or test, the answer changes. Use exactly what they named. An online certificate from us will not replace it.

Here are the cases we see most often.

• Exams in person. Many competitive sports certificates need an ECG, a breathing test, urine or blood tests, or an exercise test. Those need equipment and a visit.
• Panel doctors and named clinics. For a UK visa, the TB test is done at a clinic approved by the Home Office. Belgium asks for a certificate on its official model from an accredited doctor, or extra authentication otherwise.
• Sports medicine specialists. In Italy, the competitive sports certificate can only come from a sports medicine specialist after tests. Poland, Luxembourg and Croatia also name specialists or authorised centres for some levels.
• Driving licence medicals. The licensing authority names the form and who completes it. In the UK, the medical for a lorry or bus licence goes on form D4, filled in by a doctor.
• Checks after arrival. France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Iceland, Norway, Malta, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia, Croatia and Romania test or examine some newcomers in the country. A certificate from home does not replace that.
• National electronic systems. In some countries the sick leave certificate travels through a national system. In France, paper sick leave notices must use the secure official form, and scans or photocopies are not accepted.

In all of these, the tool shows what to book instead and never shows our price.

Some countries let you self certify for a few days. The UK allows up to 7 days in a row, counting weekends. Sweden allows 7 calendar days, and Germany 3 calendar days. Others, such as Italy and Croatia, expect a doctor’s certificate from the first day.

Your employer can often ask sooner than the law. Official guidance in Germany, Austria and Luxembourg says an employer may ask for a certificate from the first day.

Check your country in our doctor’s note checker. It shows whether you can self certify and when a certificate is due.

If your doctor is in another country, ask the body that pays your sick pay which format it accepts. Some want a specific national form. Others accept a signed certificate in a language they can read.

Elsewhere, ask your employer. Some employers still ask for a document confirming you can return. Where they do, a return to work certificate usually records the date you can resume and any changes, such as lighter duties.

Our return to work certificate is planned, and you can join the waitlist. If your employer instead wants a statement that you are fit for a named job, a fitness certificate may fit. Ask your employer which one it means.

In Ireland, the Illness Benefit process works differently. Your doctor marks the last certificate of incapacity for work as final before you return.

For a missed exam or deadline, a sick leave certificate is the usual evidence of absence from study. If the school accepts a note from you or a parent, our school absence letter generator helps you write it.

For a contagious illness, the school may have rules on when a child can come back. Our contagious period calculator explains typical periods.

School sport can follow national sports rules. In Moldova, a certificate for school physical education comes from a family doctor or a sports medicine specialist. In Croatia, school sport is handled by school doctors. Check the sports certificate rules for your country.

In Italy, Croatia, Latvia, North Macedonia and Monaco, every level of organised sport needs an exam in person. In Portugal, Luxembourg, Hungary, Greece, Cyprus, Albania and Andorra, federation registration or licences need one.

Most big marathons we checked ask only for a declaration that you are fit. London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Vienna and Copenhagen are examples. Italian races ask foreign residents for a health form with Italian competitive tests.

If your club confirms in writing that a note from any doctor is enough, with no tests, our sports fitness certificate may fit. It is valid for 12 months, though your club may ask for a newer one. The sports certificate tool shows the rule for your country.

With a MEDIF, you fill in the first part and your doctor completes the rest. The airline’s medical team then decides. Our fit to fly checker shows typical waits and when airlines tend to ask.

In pregnancy, an airline may ask for a letter from your doctor or midwife after week 28. Some airlines want their own form instead of a letter. Use the pregnancy fit to fly calculator to check your weeks.

Travel insurers set their own evidence rules for claims. Ask your insurer which document it needs and whether it has its own form. Our travel insurance claim letter helps with the covering letter.

Our fit to fly certificate is planned. You can join the waitlist now.

Belgium, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Andorra list a certificate before the visa for the visas or permits we checked. The Spanish consulates in London and Manchester accept only certificates issued in the UK or Spain.

So for a visa, the tool never offers our certificate today. It sends you to the visa medical certificate finder, which shows who can issue it and how recent it must be.

In the UK, the medical for a lorry or bus licence goes on form D4, which a doctor must fill in. That can be your GP, though an optician might need to fill in the eyesight section, or a private firm that does drivers’ medical exams. For a car, you must be able to read a number plate from 20 metres away. Lorry and bus drivers have a stricter eyesight standard.

UK drivers must also tell the licensing agency if they develop a notifiable medical condition. If you exchange your licence for one from another EU country, that country’s rules on medical checks apply to you.

Check the driving licence medical requirements page for your country.

Sam, UK, employer, illness absence. Sam has been off for 9 days in a row. The tool says a sick leave certificate fits, because a fit note is needed after 7 days. It adds that a UK fit note assessment can be face to face, by phone or online. The result shows "Our certificate may fit" and links to the doctor's note checker.

Giulia, Italy, sports club, fitness. Giulia wants to join a running club. The tool checks the Italian sports rules. Every level of organised sport needs an exam in person, and the non competitive certificate includes an ECG. The result shows "Not an online certificate: book in person" with no price.

Priya, UK resident, consulate, visa. Priya is applying for a Spanish non lucrative visa through the London consulate. The tool routes her to the visa finder. London accepts only certificates issued in the UK or Spain, and a sworn translation into Spanish. The result shows what to book instead.

Tom, Germany, airline, travel. Tom has a cast fitted and a flight in two days. The tool sends him to the fit to fly checker, which lists airline rules on fresh casts. Our fit to fly certificate is planned, so the result shows the waitlist.

Ana, Portugal, someone else, gym. Ana's gym asks for "a medical certificate". The tool asks whether the gym named a form or test. Ana says no. The result shows "Check first": ask the gym whether a certificate from any doctor after an online consultation is fine. If yes, our fitness certificate may fit.

Contact a doctor soon if a fever lasts more than a few days or you keep getting worse. If the tool sees an urgent answer, it stops and shows this advice only.

A doctor reviews your case and decides. You pay EUR 34.99 only after that review, with no added fees at checkout. If the doctor cannot issue a certificate, you get a full refund.

Approved certificates arrive as a signed PDF, usually within about 30 minutes of the doctor’s approval. Each carries a reference code anyone can check. We cover 42 countries in Europe, and certificates are issued in English.

Where a rule needs an exam in person, a named doctor or a test, the tool says so and does not offer our certificate.

Find your document above, then start your request if it fits.