Official traveller guide

Polio Vaccination Certificate by NIMS NADRA Online 2026

Everything you need to get the travel polio dose recorded against your CNIC, pay the PKR 100 fee and download your International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis from the National Immunization Management System — plus what to do when the portal cannot find your record.

Updated 14 September 2026About 9 minutes to readBased on WHO IHR and NADRA NIMS guidance

Travel rule change: NADRA certificate required from 14 September 2026

Under a Federal Airport Health Department directive announced by PIA, international passengers departing Pakistan must present a NADRA-integrated vaccination certificate. Other vaccination documents are no longer accepted at Pakistani airports. Enforcement began with Umrah passengers at Karachi and is expected to extend to Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. Vaccination counters are being operated in the departure areas, so if you still need a dose, reach the airport at least six hours before your flight.

On this page

The short answer

The polio vaccination certificate is an official record, issued through NADRA’s National Immunization Management System, proving you received a polio dose before travelling abroad. Pakistan is one of two countries where wild poliovirus still circulates, so the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations ask departing residents to carry this proof. Getting one comes down to three things: take the dose, make sure it is entered in NIMS against your CNIC, then pay PKR 100 and download the PDF.

Official portalnims.nadra.gov.pkNational Immunization Management System

Certificate feePKR 100One-time; the vaccine itself is free

Vaccination window4 weeks – 12 monthsDose must fall inside this window before departure

Time to issueSame day, usually minutesOnce your dose is recorded against your CNIC

Who it applies toAll agesResidents & visitors staying over 4 weeks

Helpline1166Sehat Tahaffuz, toll-free

Who needs a polio certificate

At its forty-fifth meeting in August 2026, the WHO Polio IHR Emergency Committee again found that the international spread of poliovirus remains a public health emergency of international concern, and kept Pakistan under the temporary recommendations for states with wild poliovirus transmission. In practice that means:

You need one if

You live in Pakistan and are travelling internationally — at any age, including infants and elderly travellers.
You are a foreign national or visitor who has stayed in Pakistan longer than four weeks.
You are flying for Umrah, Hajj, work, study or a visa appointment from a Pakistani airport.

Worth knowing

Short visitors who spent under four weeks in Pakistan fall outside the WHO recommendation, but airlines still apply their own document checks at the gate.
Domestic flights inside Pakistan do not require the certificate.
Destination countries can set stricter rules of their own through their embassies — always check the visa conditions as well.

When to get vaccinated

This is the rule most travellers get wrong. The WHO temporary recommendations ask for a dose of bOPV or IPV between four weeks and twelve months before international travel. A dose taken yesterday is technically too recent for the ideal window; a dose taken two years ago is too old.

More than 12 months ago

The dose no longer counts. Take a fresh one and download an updated certificate.

Between 4 weeks and 12 months ago — ideal

This is the window the certificate is designed around and what Saudi Arabia and other destinations expect to see.

Less than 4 weeks before departure

For urgent travel, WHO still advises receiving a dose at least by the time you depart. Take it as early as you can and use the airport health counter if that is your only option — but expect extra scrutiny at destinations that enforce the full four weeks, Saudi Arabia included.

Frequent flyers: plan on one travel dose per year. The PDF stays in your NIMS record permanently, but the dose it records only satisfies the requirement for twelve months.

What you need ready

Have these in front of you before you open the portal — the session times out and you will have to start over.

CNIC or NICOP13 digits, plus the card's issue date
PassportNumber must match your booking exactly
B-Form / CRC for childrenChild registration number for under-18 travellers
Vaccination cardThe stamped card from the centre, if you have one
Mobile phoneFor the payment OTP and the digital copy
PKR 100Card, JazzCash, EasyPaisa or e-Sahulat cash

How to get the certificate: step by step

Step 1. Get the polio dose at an authorised centre
Go to your District Health Office, a designated government hospital, a Federal Government Civil Dispensary or an airport health counter and ask for the travel polio dose. Either bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) is accepted. The vaccine is free.
Tip: This is the step people skip: make sure the health worker enters your dose into NIMS against your 13-digit CNIC — not only on a paper card. If it is not in NIMS, the portal will not find you later.
Step 2. Open the NIMS certificate page
Go to nims.nadra.gov.pk and choose the polio / Oral Polio Vaccine certificate option (nims.nadra.gov.pk/nims/certificate-other). Use the official NADRA domain only — third-party sites charging a 'service fee' are not part of the government process.
Step 3. Enter your identity and travel details
Fill in your 13-digit CNIC or NICOP without dashes, your CNIC issue date, the captcha, your name exactly as printed on the CNIC, your passport number and your nationality. The passport number is printed on the certificate, so a typo here is the single most common reason a certificate is rejected at the counter.
Step 4. Pay the PKR 100 fee
Pay online with a Visa or Mastercard debit/credit card (you will confirm with an OTP), or through JazzCash or EasyPaisa. If you do not have a card or wallet, pay in cash at any NADRA e-Sahulat franchise and quote your CNIC.
Step 5. Download the certificate PDF
Once payment clears, the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP) is generated as a PDF carrying a QR code. Download it, and optionally save it in the Pak Vaccination Pass app so it is on your phone if airport Wi-Fi fails.
Step 6. Verify, print and carry it
Scan the QR code or run the certificate number through the NIMS verification page to confirm it resolves. Print at least one colour copy and keep it with your passport — some counters still ask for paper even when you have the PDF.

Fee and payment options

The only official charge is PKR 100 for issuing the certificate. If a website or agent asks for more, you are not on the government portal.

Item	Cost	Where
Polio vaccine (bOPV or IPV)	Free	Government centres and airport health counters
NIMS certificate issuance	PKR 100	Paid online or at an e-Sahulat franchise
Re-downloading the same certificate	Free	NIMS portal or Pak Vaccination Pass app
Data correction request	Free	NIMS complaint / correction form

Accepted payment channels

Debit / credit card
JazzCash
EasyPaisa
e-Sahulat cash

Card payments are confirmed with an OTP, so keep the phone registered with your bank nearby.

Where to get vaccinated

The dose is free at government facilities. What matters is not which building you walk into, but whether that facility can enter your record into NIMS — ask before you take the drops.

District Health Office (DHO)

The default route in every district. Staff can both vaccinate you and push the record into NIMS on the same visit.

Government hospitals & EPI centres

Tertiary and district hospitals run Expanded Programme on Immunization counters that issue and record the travel dose.

Federal Government Civil Dispensaries

Designated as a primary facility for travel vaccination in the September 2026 airport advisory.

Airport health counters

Departure-area counters at international airports vaccinate passengers who arrive without a certificate. Reach the airport about six hours before your flight if you need this.

Not sure where your nearest centre is? Call the Sehat Tahaffuz helpline on 1166 — it is toll-free and also handles missed-vaccination complaints.

How to check and verify your certificate

Verification matters twice: once so you know your own document is genuine and readable, and again when an airline or embassy scans it.

Scan the QR code

Every NIMS certificate carries a QR code that resolves to the NADRA record. Scan your own printout with a phone camera before you leave for the airport.

Use the NIMS verification page

Enter the certificate number on nims.nadra.gov.pk/nims/verifyCertificateFN to confirm the record exists and matches your name and passport number.

Keep it on your phone

The Pak Vaccination Pass app from NADRA stores the certificate offline, which is useful when airport networks are congested.

Umrah, Hajj and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia treats arrivals from polio-affected countries, Pakistan included, as a specific category. Pilgrims must have received one dose of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) at least four weeks before arrival, documented on an International Certificate of Vaccination. Since 14 September 2026, Pakistani airports have been checking the NADRA-integrated certificate for Umrah passengers before departure, beginning at Karachi.

Other vaccinations Saudi Arabia asks pilgrims for

Meningococcal ACWY — at least 10 days and no more than 5 years before arrival.
Yellow fever — required for travellers arriving from countries at risk of transmission, at least 10 days before arrival.
Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccination are recommended, and the September 2026 Pakistani airport advisory also lists influenza and meningitis alongside polio.

Pilgrim health rules are revised for each Hajj and Umrah season. Confirm the current list with your tour operator, the Saudi Ministry of Health and your airline before booking vaccinations.

Children, families and overseas Pakistanis

Travelling with children

The requirement covers all ages, and the September 2026 airport advisory applies to passengers aged one year and above. Each child needs their own certificate, issued against their own record, so bring the B-Form or child registration certificate along with the child’s passport. Routine campaign drops your child received at home still need to be recorded in NIMS to appear on a travel certificate.

Overseas Pakistanis and NICOP holders

NIMS accepts NICOP numbers exactly as it accepts a CNIC, so you can obtain the certificate the same way. If the dose was given outside Pakistan, upload that record through the NIMS citizen verification page first — foreign vaccinations do not flow into the national database on their own. Visitors who have been in Pakistan longer than four weeks are covered by the same rule as residents.

Common problems and how to fix them

The portal says my record is not found

This almost always means the centre never entered your dose into NIMS — a stamped paper card alone is not enough. Go back to the District Health Office or the centre that vaccinated you, show the card, and ask them to enter the record against your CNIC. If the dose was genuinely given but the entry is missing, a fresh dose is harmless and is often the fastest fix before a flight.

My name or passport number is printed wrong

Do not travel on a mismatched certificate. Submit a data correction request through the NIMS complaint form (nims.nadra.gov.pk/nims/registerComplaint), keeping your CNIC and passport images ready. For anything urgent before a flight, call 1166 or go to a NADRA Registration Centre in person.

Money was deducted but no certificate appeared

Do not pay a second time immediately. Wait for the transaction to settle, then reopen the certificate page with the same CNIC — paid certificates usually become downloadable without paying again. Keep the JazzCash / EasyPaisa / bank SMS as proof and raise it on the NIMS complaint form or the 1166 helpline.

I was vaccinated abroad

Records from outside Pakistan are not in NIMS automatically. Upload the foreign vaccination record through the NIMS citizen verification page (nims.nadra.gov.pk/nims/verify-citizen) so it can be reviewed and added to your national record.

The QR code will not scan

Print in colour at normal size and do not shrink the page to fit — a compressed or faxed copy destroys the QR pattern. Re-download a fresh PDF from NIMS rather than re-printing a scanned photocopy, and keep the digital file on your phone as a backup.

I lost my certificate

Nothing is lost. The certificate lives in your national record, so log back into NIMS with the same CNIC and download it again at no extra charge, or open it in the Pak Vaccination Pass app.

My dose is older than 12 months

The document does not disappear, but the dose it records stops satisfying the travel requirement after 12 months. Take a fresh dose and download an updated certificate before your next international trip.

Mistakes that cost travellers their flight

Avoid

Assuming a stamped paper card alone will clear immigration.
Paying an agent or a lookalike website more than PKR 100.
Leaving the certificate until the night before the flight.
Typing a passport number that differs from the one on your ticket.
Printing the QR code in greyscale or shrunk to fit.

Do instead

Confirm the dose is visible in NIMS before you leave the centre.
Use only nims.nadra.gov.pk and pay exactly PKR 100.
Start four to six weeks before departure wherever possible.
Check every field against your passport before submitting.
Carry a colour printout plus the PDF saved offline on your phone.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check my polio card online in Pakistan?

Open nims.nadra.gov.pk, choose the polio certificate option and enter your 13-digit CNIC along with your CNIC issue date. Your recorded immunization history is shown and the certificate can be downloaded as a PDF. The Pak Vaccination Pass app shows the same record on your phone.

What is the fee for the NADRA polio vaccination certificate?

PKR 100, a one-time issuance fee set by the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination. The vaccine itself is free. Once paid, you can download the same certificate again as often as you need without paying again.

How long is the polio vaccination certificate valid?

For international travel it is treated as valid for 12 months from the date of the dose. Under the WHO International Health Regulations the dose must fall between four weeks and twelve months before departure, so a dose older than a year no longer meets the requirement even though the PDF still exists in your record.

How soon before travel should I take the polio dose?

Ideally at least four weeks before departure. If you must travel sooner than that, WHO's temporary recommendations still say you should receive a dose at least by the time of departure — which is why airport health counters exist in the departure area.

Is the polio certificate mandatory for Umrah and Hajj?

Yes. Saudi Arabia requires arrivals from polio-affected countries, including Pakistan, to have had one dose of bOPV or IPV at least four weeks before arrival, recorded on an International Certificate of Vaccination. From 14 September 2026, Pakistani airports began enforcing the NADRA-integrated certificate for Umrah passengers, starting at Karachi.

How do I verify a polio certificate online?

Scan the QR code printed on the certificate, or enter the certificate number on the NIMS verification page (nims.nadra.gov.pk/nims/verifyCertificateFN). A genuine certificate resolves to a NADRA record that matches the name and passport number on the document.

Do children need a polio vaccination certificate?

Yes. The WHO recommendation covers residents and long-term visitors of all ages, and the September 2026 airport advisory applies to passengers aged one year and above. Bring the child's B-Form or CRC and their passport, and register the certificate against the child's own record.

Can overseas Pakistanis get the certificate?

Yes — the NIMS portal accepts NICOP numbers in the same way as a CNIC. If the vaccination itself happened abroad, upload that record through the NIMS citizen verification page first so it can be added to your Pakistani immunization record.

Can I get vaccinated at the airport on the day of travel?

Yes, health counters in the international departure area vaccinate passengers who arrive without a certificate. Plan to reach the airport about six hours before departure, because the dose, the record entry and the certificate all have to be completed before check-in.

Which polio vaccine counts for the certificate?

Either bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) — the drops — or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), the injection. Both satisfy the requirement as long as the dose is recorded on the certificate within the four-week to twelve-month window.

Do I need a certificate if I am only leaving for a few days?

The requirement follows how long you have been in Pakistan, not how long you are leaving for. If you are a resident, or a visitor who has stayed longer than four weeks, the requirement applies at the point of departure regardless of trip length.

Is the paper polio card still accepted at the airport?

Treat it as a supporting document only. Since 14 September 2026, Pakistani airports have moved to the NADRA-integrated digital certificate for international travel, so carry the NIMS-issued PDF or its printout and keep the paper card as backup.

Traveller FAQs under WHO IHR

What the International Health Regulations actually require of passengers leaving Pakistan.

Frequently asked questions about polio

How the virus spreads, why repeated doses are needed, and what is in the vaccine.

Polio in Pakistan

The national eradication programme, its scale, and the progress made since the 1990s.

Polio cases by province

Where cases are being reported in 2026 and how that compares with previous years.

Sources and disclaimer

This page is an informational guide, last reviewed on 14 September 2026. Fees, airport procedures and destination requirements can change at short notice. The issuing authority for the certificate is NADRA through the National Immunization Management System, under the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination — always confirm current requirements on the official portal, with your airline, and with the embassy of your destination country before you travel.