In a joint statement, the Ministry of Health, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) and the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health explain that to obtain the digital certificate, the citizen should access the SNS24 portal, follow the instructions and choose the type of certificate you want.

After validation of the request, the document is made available on the portal or can be sent, later, to the indicated 'email', without any associated costs.

"To improve cross-border acceptance, it is written in Portuguese and English," the authorities stress.

In the joint note, the authorities clarify that, "it will soon be possible to obtain the certificates on other platforms, as well as access the certificate for rapid molecular testing."

According to the European Regulation on the Digital Certificate, the European verification systems should all be in place from 1 July.

According to DGS guidance, Covid-19 digital certificates can be used in all member states, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The EU's digital Covid-19 certificate, which proves (negative) testing, vaccination or recovery of Covid-19, "will also be open to comparable initiatives being developed by third countries or international organisations", says the DGS.

The health authority recalls, however, that the certificate "may not exempt the respective holders, depending on the worsening of the epidemiological situation, from complying with additional public health measures on arrival in the Member State of destination of the trip.

The document has a QR code with the essential data required and which is used "to securely verify the authenticity, integrity and validity of the certificate", the health authority reminds, adding that the certificate will have information such as "name, date of birth, date of issue and relevant information about the vaccination, test or recovery".