COVID-19 test and recovery certificates

Last updated on 11-3-2022 by Wesley Van Dessel

Basic requirements for issuing a COVID-19 test or recovery certificate

To issue a test certificate:

A negative PCR test not older than 72 hours or a negative rapid antigentest not older than 48 hours
Correct reporting of the result by the laboratory (in case of a PCR test) or the doctor/pharmacist (in case of a rapid antigentest) to Sciensano

To issue a recovery certificate:

A positive PCR test taken more than 11 days ago, but not more than 180 days. Other test types are not eligible.
Correct reporting of the result by the laboratory to Sciensano

The availability of a certificate is not always indicative of its validity. Validity may be subject to additional conditions. You can find more information on this subject in the frequently asked questions in Dutch, French or German.

If you cannot find your certificate, if you would like more information or if you have another question, please consult:

the verification steps for missing certificates in Dutch , French or German.
the frequently asked questions in Dutch , French or German.

Sciensano’s role in issuing COVID-19 certificates

The EU Digital COVID Certificate regulation introduces three types of COVID-19 related certificates. Two based on a COVID-19 test result and one based on vaccination against COVID-19. Sciensano (Healthdata.be) processes the results of the COVID-19 tests to support the contact tracing efforts of the Belgian regional health authorities. In short, the accredited doctors, pharmacists and laboratories that carry out the tests provide Sciensano with the medically certified results. Based on this input, Sciensano supplies data to Digitaal Vlaanderen (in charge of the technical implementation of generating the certificates), to create two types of certificates:

Certificate of a negative COVID-19 test
Certificate of recovery from COVID-19

Further details are available on the Dutch, French or German version of this page.

Privacy statement

Full details about the processing of data by Sciensano in the context of the issuance of COVID-19 test and recovery certificates can be found in the privacy statement.