Italy Introduces Coronavirus ‘Green Pass’: When It’s Mandatory

Are you coming to Italy?

In order to prevent high infection levels due to the virus variants as well as to protect the country’s economy, which has suffered the most during this period, did you know that from August 6 the so-called ‘Green Pass’ is required in the peninsula to access certain non-essential services?

What is the new Green Pass in Italy?

It’s a digital or paper certificate which comes with a QR code that can be easily scanned and verified. So it can be printed out or stored on your smartphone.

It is issued by the Italian government in the following cases:

When is the Italian health pass required?

This is the list of places and activities for which you need the ‘Green Pass’ as confirmed in the official website of the Italian Government (in Italian):

• Eat and drink inside restaurants and bars, gelaterie and pizzerie, including those situated in shopping centres − but it is not required to access them and its shops. Note that no green pass is needed if you sit and eat at tables in open-air venues or gazebos. There is no need for a green pass even for those who enter these places to eat at the counter or to pay the bill after eating out, to go to the toilet or to buy take-away products like pizza, ice cream, a bottle of water, etc.
• All shows which are open to the public, sport competitions and events.
• Museums, art exhibitions and other cultural events and venues.
• Indoor swimming pools, gyms, fitness centres and spas.
• Festivals and trade fairs, conventions and congresses.
• Theme and amusement parks.
• Cinemas, bingo halls and casinos.
• Private parties, such as wedding receptions.
• Emergency rooms and hospitals as a visitor.

It is not required for hotels and for their bars and restaurants, just in their spas and swimming pools if indoor.

Starting from September 1 the Green Pass is required for passengers on domestic flights, inter-regional ferries (with the exception of the Strait of Messina) as well as on buses and long-distance trains that connect more than two regions. It is not mandatory for buses and subways of local public transport networks or for regional trains (treni regionali) even in those cases in which they cross more than one region.

The Italian health pass does not apply to children under the age of 12 and for those who can’t have a Covid-19 vaccine but can prove it with a medical certificate.

How to get the Covid Green Pass which is valid in Italy

In case you’ve been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered from Covid-19 in Italy, you can download it here. Alternatively you can ask your doctor in Italy or a local pharmacy (farmacia). You can request it in italian, English, German and French.

If you are visiting from the EU or Schengen Area, you can use documents issued in your own country since the Italian Green Pass is part of the EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate programme, meaning that the country recognises the other equivalent passes issued by these countries. Just check there’s always a QR code.

To check if your QR code is valid in Italy you can try and download the free government app VerificaC19 (scroll to the bottom of this page to download it).

Also if you were vaccinated in Canada, Israel, Japan, the UK or the US, the Italian government has agreed to recognise certificates issued by your health authorities at home. The only condition is that you’ve been vaccinated with one of those approved by Italy and the UE: Pfizer-BioNTech (also known as Comirnaty), Moderna (Spikevax), AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria) or Johnson & Johnson (Janssen). So carry all the documents you have to prove it.

For all other countries, no similar certificates are valid at this time. So you will need to get tested in Italy or elsewhere in the EU in order to obtain a certificate which is valid for 48 hours.