Health · Medicines

Travelling with medication: the Schengen certificate and stricter countries

By Leonard Chioveanu · Updated 2 November 2026 · 7 min read

For ordinary medicines, a prescription or doctor’s letter and the original pack are enough almost everywhere. Medicines that contain narcotic or psychotropic substances (strong painkillers, ADHD stimulants, some sleeping pills and anxiety medicines) need more: inside the Schengen area a Schengen certificate, and outside it the destination’s own rules, which in Japan and the Gulf states are much stricter.

For every trip

Keep medicines in your hand luggage, in the original packaging with the pharmacy label.
Carry a doctor’s letter in English with your name, each medicine’s active ingredient, dose and daily amount, and the reason you take it.
Take only what you need for the trip plus a few days’ spare.
Liquids over 100 ml (insulin, syrups) are allowed through security when you show the letter.

Inside the Schengen area: the Schengen certificate

	What applies
Which medicines	Prescribed medicines containing narcotic or psychotropic substances, e.g. morphine, oxycodone, methylphenidate, some benzodiazepines
Who fills it in	Your prescribing doctor in the Schengen country where you live
Who stamps it	The national or regional health authority (in Germany the state health authority; in Finland Fimea), before you travel
How long it is valid	Up to 30 days, one certificate per medicine
Where it works	All Schengen countries, and Ireland since April 2023; not the UK or countries outside Schengen

Based on Article 75 of the Schengen Implementing Convention. For trips over 30 days, ask the destination’s embassy or health ministry.

Outside Schengen

Ask your doctor for a multilingual certificate with the international name of each substance, the dose and the length of the trip, and have it authenticated by your health authority. Then check the rules of the destination and of any country you transit.

Destination	Main rules
United Kingdom	Up to a 3-month supply of most controlled medicines is allowed with a doctor’s letter. More needs a Home Office licence, applied for about a month ahead. The Schengen certificate is not valid.
Ireland	Accepts the Schengen certificate from Schengen residents (up to 30 days, one per medicine). Prescribed cannabis products are not allowed.
Japan	Stimulants such as amphetamine are banned, which rules out common ADHD medicines like Adderall and Vyvanse. Narcotics and psychotropics need advance permission. OTC cold medicines with codeine or pseudoephedrine (e.g. Sudafed) are not allowed. More than one month of prescription medicine needs an import certificate (Yunyu Kakunin-sho).
United Arab Emirates	Narcotic and psychotropic medicines are allowed up to a 3-month supply with a recent prescription. Apply for free advance approval online, or declare them on arrival. Codeine and tramadol are among the controlled medicines.
Other Gulf states	Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman also restrict many painkillers, sleeping pills and ADHD medicines. Check the embassy well before you travel.

Medical cannabis and CBD

Even when cannabis is prescribed to you, most countries outside a few in Europe treat it as an illegal drug at the border, and products with THC can lead to arrest in Japan and the Gulf. Don’t travel with it unless the destination explicitly allows it.

If you move rather than travel

Bring a 2–3 month supply, register with a local doctor straight away and ask for a local prescription. See our guides to finding your medicine’s local name and what is sold over the counter.

General information, not medical advice. Always check the strength and ingredients on the pack, and ask a pharmacist or doctor before switching or combining medicines.

Sources

This guide is general information based on the tax rules we could verify for 2026, not tax or financial advice. Rules change and personal situations differ, so check with the tax authority or a qualified adviser before you act. Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].