Earlier this month, the Government of India had announced new guidelines for Covid-19 vaccination, asking those going abroad for education, jobs, or as part of the Indian contingent for the Tokyo Olympic Games, will have to get their vaccination certificates linked to passports.
It is evident by now that to travel internationally, one would have to expect to show a fully vaccinated status to the other countries over some time. However, the Indian Covid-19 vaccination certificates did not display the passport numbers if one used another national identity document to register for the vaccination drive. One of the most asked questions so far, then, has been about how to link the passport to the certificate. Now, thanks to updates on the Cowin portal, this is possible. Here is how to link your passport to your Covid-19 vaccination certificate if you get your vaccine in India.
The information was shared on the official Twitter handle of the Aarogya Setu app.
How to link your passport with vaccine certificate on CoWin
Here is how you can go on to link your passport to the vaccination certificate, in case you have already started the vaccination process and registered/availed of the first dose or both the doses. First things first, log in to cowin.gov.in with your registered phone number. You will notice a “raise an issue” button right about on the top.
Here, you need to enter the current passport number and click on Submit. Remember, there are no additional checks, and the passport number is updated instantaneously, so remember to be very careful with the number you input. Entering a passport number and requesting a name change can be done just once. I am still not sure how this works with passport renewals where the old passport number will appear on the new one, but you won’t have the option to update it on your certificate every time the passport details change.
As per Cowin, you will receive an updated certificate within seconds. The updated certificate will remove the other identity document and puts the passport in its place. If the names on the passport and certificate do not match, you can request a rectification of the name on the certificate to match the passport name.
If you update the id document on Cowin after the first vaccine dose administered, remember, you will need to carry your passport for your second vaccination.
Of course, if you are starting the process afresh to get your vaccination done, you should use the passport as your national identity document for the vaccination in the first place.
The Cowin system has been updated to add your passport to the Covid-19 certification to enable those intending to travel abroad to provide adequate proof to other countries about your vaccination status. This facility is online; however, only available one-time, which means you need to be very careful to get it done.
