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Take your medications and prescriptions with you when travelling abroad

Take your medications and prescriptions with you when travelling abroad

Be sure to take medicine prescriptions with you when travelling. You can present them at Customs to prove that you have the right to bring along your personal medication.

Bring along one of the following:

  • a patient instruction sheet printed out by your doctor It lists all of the medicines prescribed to you at the same time.
  • a signed summary printout in English, available from the pharmacy or the person who has issued the prescription, i.e. a copy of electronic prescriptions. The copy can be printed out on medicines that have been purchased from the pharmacy.
  • a Finnish-language summary of your prescriptions. This can be requested from the pharmacy or printed out through MyKanta (select "Print summary"). Access to the service requires authentication with your electronic ID card (HST card), online bank credentials or mobile ID.

You can also ask your doctor for a report of your medication and its reasons, or diagnostic details or case histories related to your medical condition. Sometimes it may be worthwhile to have the documents translated into English or the language of your destination country.

When travelling abroad, keep the medicines in their original packaging and pack them in the hand luggage. The import practices of personal medicines and the medicinal products you can carry with you depend on the country of destination. More detailed information can be obtained, e.g. by asking from the website of the Customs of the destination country or from the embassy of the country in question.

Taking medicines containing narcotics and central nervous system drugs abroad

When travelling to Schengen area (visaguide.world), you must have a Schengen certificate from the pharmacy if you carry certain medication that primarily affects the central nervous system (CNS drugs) or contains psychotropic or narcotic substances. Tell the pharmacy which medicines you are taking with you, and the staff will advise you whether you need a Schengen certificate for them or not. The certificate is valid for 30 days from the first day of travel. The Schengen certificate is an official document used in Schengen countries. With the document, an individual travelling in the area can prove, e.g. to the authorities, that they are entitled to carry the medicines in question.

To issue the certificate, the pharmacy requires

  • the medicinal product package
  • the prescription for the medicine
  • your travel document (passport or ID card). The passport number is entered on the certificate. If you are travelling within the Nordic countries and do not have a passport, your ID number is entered on the certificate.

The certificate can be issued

  • when the medicine is dispensed at the pharmacy
  • afterwards from the pharmacy which dispensed the medicine.

Find out more

Last updated 24.11.2023