Doctor's Letter For Travelling With Medication
Carrying prescription medication through customs without the right documentation can cause unnecessary delays. A signed letter from a GMC-registered UK doctor sets out what you are carrying, the dose, and why it was prescribed, so you have something to show at security or at the border.
Each letter follows a clinical review by a GMC-registered UK doctor and is designed to sit alongside your prescription and original pharmacy labels, not to replace them.
✔ Issued by a GMC-registered UK doctor following clinical review
✔ Suitable for airport security, customs, and international travel
✔ Most requests reviewed same day, from £47
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Accepted by most UK employers, universities and insurers, subject to their own policies. All consultations are subject to clinical assessment and certificates are issued only where clinically appropriate.
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How It Works
Complete short online consult
No appointment required.
Complete a short medical questionnaire and upload any supporting evidence.
Doctor reviews your evidence
A GMC-registered doctor reviews your submission individually.
✔ Full refund if a certificate cannot be issued.
Receive your certificate
Most certificates are issued same day, almost all by 9AM the next morning. Delivered as a signed PDF. A doctor will email you if more evidence is needed.
Certificate security
Every MedicalCert certificate can be checked as genuine
Each certificate is issued with anti-tampering protection and its own verification reference. If your employer, university, airline or insurer wants to confirm the document came from a GMC-registered doctor, they can check it against MedicalCert records. Altered or copied documents do not pass that check.
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They meet the incredibly fast turnaround stated (certificate/letter sent before 9am the following morning if the doctor feels that a letter/certificate is appropriate) which is incredibly quick and I am really grateful for the help provided!
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A fast and efficient service. It wasn't complicated and the Fit-to-fly note was accepted by the Airport without any further questions. Thank you.
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Doctor's Letter for Travelling with Medication
A doctor's letter for travelling with medication confirms that your medicines have been lawfully prescribed in the UK. Issued and signed by a GMC-registered doctor, it lists each medication by generic and brand name, dose, frequency, and the total quantity carried, alongside your travel dates and destination country. GOV.UK guidance says that if you are leaving the UK with medicine containing a controlled drug, you should be able to prove it is yours with either a prescription or a letter from your clinician. Some countries, airlines, and security authorities may also ask for supporting documentation, particularly for controlled medicines, injectables, sharps, liquid medicines over 100ml, or larger supplies.
One MedicalCert letter covers your full medication list in a single document. Most letters are approved same day or by 9AM the next morning, signed by a GMC-registered UK doctor with a unique QR code for verification at customs.
The letter is supporting documentation. It does not replace your prescription or your dispensing labels, and it does not override the law of the country you are travelling to. For medicine containing a controlled drug the Home Office recommends a letter signed by the person who prescribed it, including their professional registration details, so carry your prescription or repeat slip as well.
When Do You Need a Medication Travel Letter?
Controlled drugs
GOV.UK tells travellers leaving the UK with medicine containing a controlled drug to be able to prove it is theirs, with either a prescription or a letter from their clinician. Controlled drugs are named in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and placed in schedules by the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. They include opioids such as morphine, oxycodone, and codeine, plus benzodiazepines, methylphenidate, tramadol, and pregabalin. Your doctor or pharmacist can confirm whether a medicine contains one.
Injectables and medical devices
GOV.UK hand luggage guidance asks for proof that a medication is prescribed to you, for example a letter from your doctor or a copy of your prescription, when it is both in liquid form and in a container larger than 100ml. Syringes, inhalers, insulin pumps, and medical equipment essential for your journey are allowed in hand luggage, and no proof is required for tablets or for liquids of 100ml or less, though a letter makes them quicker to explain at screening.
Large supply quantities
The Home Office notes that many controlled drugs are not normally prescribed in quantities greater than one month's supply, so a larger amount can prompt questions. A letter setting out the dose, strength, frequency, and total quantity shows the supply matches your prescribed treatment. The 3-month supply limit that is often quoted applies to bringing controlled drug medicines into the UK, not to how long you may be abroad.
Restricted medications at destination
Medicines that are legal in the UK can be restricted or banned elsewhere. GOV.UK warns that you could get a fine or go to prison if you travel with medicine that is illegal in another country, and tells travellers to check the rules with that country's embassy before they travel. A UK doctor's letter does not override the importing country's law.
Long-term conditions on regular medication
For travellers managing chronic conditions including diabetes, epilepsy, COPD, and heart disease, a letter listing current medications is a useful record if medication is lost or damaged, or if treatment is needed abroad. Carry it alongside the original labelled pharmacy packaging rather than instead of it.
Unlabelled or repackaged medications
Medications should always be carried in the original labelled containers dispensed by a UK pharmacy. If packaging is missing, or if international brand names differ from UK equivalents, a doctor's letter verifies the supply is legitimately prescribed and dispensed in the UK.
What Documentation Do You Need? Quick Reference
Requirements depend on what you are carrying, which direction you are travelling, and where you are going. This table summarises what the published GOV.UK guidance actually says:
| Travel scenario | Documentation required | Source of requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Controlled drug, leaving the UKAny length of trip | A prescription or a letter from your clinician, so you can prove the medicine is yours. Carry it on your person in hand luggage. No Home Office licence is involved. | GOV.UK: "Take medicine in or out of the UK" |
| Controlled drug, entering the UKUp to a 3-month supply | No licence under the personal import policy for schedule 2 to 4 (part I), schedule 4 (part II) and schedule 5 medicines lawfully prescribed and dispensed in your country of habitual residence. A letter from the prescribing clinician is recommended. | Home Office guidance: "Travelling with medicine containing controlled drugs" (GOV.UK) |
| More than a 3-month supply into the UK | Considered only in exceptional circumstances. Email the Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit one month before travel with supporting evidence and a letter from your clinician. Cost of UK healthcare or medicines is not treated as exceptional. | Home Office Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit (GOV.UK) |
| Non-controlled prescription medication | No UK licence needed. A letter is optional but useful where the destination country has strict import rules. Import of non-controlled medicines into the UK is a matter for the MHRA. | GOV.UK foreign travel advice; MHRA |
| Liquid medication over 100ml in hand luggage | Proof that the medication is prescribed to you, for example a letter from your doctor or a copy of your prescription. No proof needed for tablets, or for liquids in containers of 100ml or less. | GOV.UK: "Hand luggage restrictions at UK airports" |
| Syringes, inhalers, medical equipment | Allowed in hand luggage. GOV.UK sets no documentation requirement for them, though a letter helps at screening. Contact your airline about oxygen cylinders, and the airport about ice packs. | GOV.UK: "Hand luggage restrictions at UK airports" |
| Medication banned at destination | A UK doctor's letter does not grant entry. GOV.UK warns of a fine or a prison sentence and tells you to check with the embassy of the country you are going to before you travel. | Destination country law; GOV.UK foreign travel advice |
Controlled Drugs: What UK Law Requires
Home Office guidance for travellers carrying controlled drugs
If you are leaving the UK with medicine that contains a controlled drug, GOV.UK says you should be able to prove it is yours with either a prescription or a letter from your clinician. There is no Home Office licence for simply taking your own prescribed medicine abroad, however long the trip lasts. What governs you once you land is the law of the country you are entering, which is why GOV.UK tells you to check with that country's embassy first.
Coming the other way, the Home Office personal import policy lets a traveller carry up to a 3-month supply of schedule 2 to 4 (part I) medicines into the UK without a licence, along with schedule 4 (part II) and schedule 5 medicines, provided they were lawfully prescribed and dispensed in that traveller's country of habitual residence. The Home Office recommends a letter from the prescribing clinician giving your name, the medicines with doses, strength and frequency, and the prescriber's signature and professional registration details. Your travel dates and the quantities listed must make it evident you are not carrying more than a 3-month supply.
Controlled drugs are named in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and placed in one of five schedules by the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. GOV.UK requires medicine containing a controlled drug to be carried on your person, in hand luggage, when you enter or leave the UK, and says it may be taken away at the border if you cannot prove it was prescribed for you. Medicines containing controlled drugs cannot be posted to you from overseas. Schedule 1 drugs cannot be brought into the UK without a licence, and a Schengen Certificate is not accepted in place of one.
More than a 3-month supply into the UK
A licence to bring more than a 3-month supply of controlled drug medicines into the UK is granted only in exceptional circumstances. The request goes by email to the Home Office Drug and Firearms Licensing Unit, and the Home Office asks for it one month before your intended travel date, with supporting evidence and a letter from your own clinician explaining why the medicine cannot be obtained in the UK. The cost of obtaining healthcare or medicines in the UK is unlikely to be treated as exceptional. If you are habitually resident in the UK and were prescribed a controlled drug while abroad, the personal import policy does not apply to you and you need to contact the same unit before returning.
Medications Commonly Covered
These are the categories travellers ask about most often. Some are controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which the Home Office administers. Others, such as insulin and adrenaline auto-injectors, are not controlled at all but still raise questions at security because of the needles or liquid volumes involved. Non-controlled medicines being brought into the UK are a matter for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency rather than the Home Office. Your doctor or pharmacist can tell you which category a specific medicine falls into. If you are unsure, include it in your consultation and the doctor will advise:
Cannabis based medicines prescribed in the UK are controlled drugs and are illegal to carry into a number of countries. Check with the destination country's embassy before you travel.
What Your Medication Travel Letter Includes
Letter contents
- ✔ Your full name, date of birth, and address
- ✔ Travel dates and destination country
- ✔ Full medication list, with generic and brand name, dose, frequency, and total quantity
- ✔ Brief clinical reason why the medication has been prescribed
- ✔ Confirmation, based on the prescription evidence you supply, that the medication was prescribed and dispensed in the UK
- ✔ GMC registration number of the signing doctor
- ✔ Unique QR code for customs or border verification
For medicine containing a controlled drug, the Home Office recommends a letter signed by the person who prescribed it, including their professional registration details. A MedicalCert letter is signed by a GMC-registered UK doctor and carries their GMC number, and it is built to sit alongside your prescription and dispensing labels rather than replace them. Carry all of it in your hand luggage with the original pharmacy packaging. It remains your responsibility to check the legal status of your medicines at your destination with the relevant embassy, because a UK doctor's letter does not grant permission to import a substance that is banned there.
How to Get Your Medication Travel Letter
Complete the online consultation form
List all medications you are travelling with, including dose, frequency, and total quantity. Provide your travel dates and destinations. Upload a copy of your current prescription, dispensing labels, or GP medication summary.
GMC-registered doctor reviews your submission
The doctor confirms the medications listed against the clinical information provided. If further clarification is needed, the doctor may contact you before issuing.
Letter delivered by email
Most letters are approved same day or by 9AM the next morning. Print a copy to carry in your hand luggage alongside original medication packaging.
