Benin and Jordan COVID-19 Certificates Are Now Valid in the European Union

The European Commission has confirmed that from February 17th, 2022, all the COVID-19 certificates issued by Benin and Jordan will be equivalent to the EU COVID Digital Certificate.

The EU COVID Digital Certificate allows free movement across all countries in the European Union and reduces international travel restrictions for those who own it, but only EU citizens and residents, and their family members are able to obtain it. Nationals of third countries need equivalent, locally-issued certificates that show and prove each traveler’s vaccination status, COVID-19 recovery status, or negative results in a recent COVID-19 diagnostic test.

This is the only way for them to enter EU countries without having to take additional COVID-19 tests or be subject to travel quarantine requirements or other specific requirements established by each EU member state.

So the addition of Benin and Jordan’s certificate to the list of valid, verifiable certificates from abroad is an important step in the ease of international travel for Jordan and Benin nationals who need to go to countries in the European Union.

How do equivalent COVID-19 certificates work?

From now on, the staff that performs health controls at the borders of EU countries will be able to scan and verify the digital signature key of the Jordanian or Beninese issuing entities present in the certificate. These digital signature keys are unique to each issuing body and are stored in a secure database in each country in order to avoid the falsification of COVID-19 certificates.

The European Commission built the digital infrastructure of the gateway to check all Covid-19 certificates this way. All that the Commission has to do is to connect more territories to it. With the addition of Benin and Jordan, the total number of countries and territories connected to the EU Digital COVID Certificate system increased to 62.

The EU Commission is continuously adding more and more countries as time passes. The plan is to make international travel easier for all third-country visitors who have completed the COVID-19 vaccination schedule.