Medical certificates in Puerto Rico: which one you need and how to get it

Find the document you were asked for:

If you are sick and your employer or school wants a note, the doctor evaluates you by video and, if appropriate, gives you a doctor's note. If you need a doctor's note in Puerto Rico because you were sick, that is the service page: the note after your visit is included at no extra charge. The doctor only documents what she evaluates during the visit, so notes are never backdated.

Puerto Rico public schools usually accept a written note from a parent for short absences; check with the school before paying for a visit only to get a note.

Many employers, universities and programs ask for a signed medical form. In a School and work forms visit (US$35), Dr. Diana Nieves Castro, MD, a Puerto Rico-licensed general practice physician with several years of emergency-department experience, evaluates you by video and completes the form when the evaluation supports it. Read more about the work and school medical certificate. If your employer asks for a medical certificate for work, it is that same visit.

Have the form ready before the visit. If it asks for something that can only be done in person, such as a vision exam, another provider handles that part. If the visit turns out to need a full doctor visit, the doctor explains why and, only with your consent, you pay the difference.

To book, go to the booking page and choose School and work forms. Request a visit online 24/7 — we confirm your time by email or text.

This is the yearly certificate that Law 232-2000 and Regulation 138 require for certain workers. It needs a TB skin test, placed and read in person, and a syphilis test, and it is issued by a Department of Health-authorized doctor at the authorized site. We give you the lab order for those tests for US$35. Details in the Puerto Rico health certificate guide.

The DTOP form says the doctor will examine the applicant personally, and it records visual acuity in each eye. Because it needs a vision exam, we don't complete it. See the driver's license medical certificate guide.

Schools and daycares ask for documents such as the PVAC-3 vaccination form and, in certain grades, an oral exam certificate. If you are relocating with children, see Puerto Rico school health requirements.

The PVAC-3 is issued by the doctor or professional who gives the vaccines, through the Puerto Rico Immunization Registry, and vaccines are given in person. If you are already vaccinated and lost the form, ask whoever vaccinated you or the Department of Health's vaccination program.

For a marriage license, the Registro Demográfico (vital records office) asks for lab tests and a doctor's certification after the results. Check the current requirements with the Department of Health's Registro Demográfico before you start.