Is this TB certificate real? Check for edits and AI fakes
A tuberculosis screening certificate is only acceptable if the clinic that issued it was designated by the consulate to do so, which makes the clinic's approval number the first thing to check. A certificate on the letterhead of a practice that holds no approval number, or one carrying a validity window longer than the scheme permits, fails before its clinical content is read at all. After that come the examination date, the passport number, and the chest X-ray finding with its radiograph reference.
Last updated:
- Most edited
- date of examination
- chest X-ray finding
- clinic approval number
- passport number
- Reviewed by
- Immigration authorities screening long-stay visa applicants for active tuberculosis
How TB certificate forgeries are made
Examination date shifting
The date of examination is moved forward to revive a certificate whose validity has run out, usually after a visa appointment slips. The edit is a few characters, and it leaves the radiograph reference number and any laboratory accession attached to the original date, which no longer agrees with the page.
Validity window extension
The expiry date alone is pushed out, leaving the examination date untouched, which produces a certificate valid for longer than the scheme allows. Because reviewers tend to read the expiry and stop, this survives a quick check and fails the moment the two dates are compared against the scheme's stated period.
Passport number and name edits
Identity fields are rewritten so one person's screening certificate is submitted by another, often within a family applying together. The replaced characters sit on a different baseline from the rest of the field, and the edited name usually stops matching the photograph and the signature block where the format carries them.
Non-panel clinic letterhead with a borrowed approval number
A certificate is issued by a clinic with no designation, using an approval number copied from a clinic that has one. The number itself checks out against the published list, but it resolves to a different clinic name and address than the letterhead above it shows.
X-ray finding and radiograph reference rewrite
The reported finding is replaced, or a radiograph reference is invented for a film that was never taken. An invented reference typically breaks the clinic's own numbering format, and the rewritten finding sits in text whose rendering differs from the clinical section around it.
Certificates produced entirely from a panel format
The document is generated from a known panel clinic's layout rather than edited from a real one, so it contains no local inconsistency. These are separated by checking the approval number against the consulate's published clinic list and by analysing whether the stamp and letterhead were printed with the page or laid onto it.
Frequently asked questions
How do embassies verify a TB certificate?
Embassies confirm the certificate came from a clinic on their own designated panel list, matching the clinic name, address, and approval number, and many schemes receive results from the panel clinic directly rather than from the applicant. The applicant's name, date of birth and passport number are then checked against the passport, and the validity window against the date of examination.
Can a tuberculosis test certificate be faked for a visa?
Yes, and the two common forms are a certificate from a clinic that holds no panel designation, and a genuine panel certificate with the examination or expiry date moved after it lapsed. Both are document forgeries rather than clinical ones, and both are detectable: the first from the approval number, the second from the mismatch between the two dates.
How long is a TB certificate valid?
Most schemes treat these certificates as valid for three to six months from the date of examination, and the exact period is set by the issuing scheme rather than by the clinic. Because the window is derived from the examination date, it is worth recomputing rather than reading, since extending the expiry alone is one of the more common edits on this document.
What is checked on a panel clinic certificate?
The clinic's approval number, the applicant's identity fields as printed in the passport, the date of examination, the chest X-ray finding and its radiograph reference, the test result, the clearance statement, the registration numbers of the signing radiologist and physician, the clinic stamp, and the validity window measured against the examination date.
Which forensic checks matter most for a TB certificate?
It starts where forgeries of a TB certificate most often break: the clinic name and approval number, the chest X-ray finding and test result, and the radiologist's and physician's registration numbers. The rest of a TB certificate is covered by the general pixel, font and metadata layers.
What is the quickest tell that a TB certificate was edited?
Look for a mismatch between the validity window and the examination date. Edits to a TB certificate usually change one side and leave the other as issued.
How do I tell if a TB certificate is genuine?
Confirm the practitioner and facility with the regulator, check dates against the events a TB certificate is meant to support, and look at whether values agree with their reference ranges. Then check the file for edits around date of examination.
Can a clinic confirm a TB certificate to a third party?
Often not, because of privacy rules. That leaves the document itself as the main evidence, which is why screening a TB certificate matters when direct confirmation is unavailable.
Can I automate checks on a TB certificate in my own workflow?
Yes. Upload a TB certificate through the REST API, receive a JSON verdict, and use async jobs and webhooks for high volume. The docs cover authentication, webhooks and MCP.
What a genuine TB certificate contains
A panel clinic certificate documents a screening performed for a visa application. It carries the clinic's name, address, and consulate approval or accreditation number, the applicant's name, date of birth and passport number exactly as printed in the passport, and a photograph where the panel format includes one. The clinical section gives the date of examination, the chest X-ray finding with its radiograph reference number, the sputum, IGRA or Mantoux result, and the statement that the applicant is clear of active tuberculosis. Radiologist and physician sign it with their council registration numbers, over the clinic stamp.
The validity window is calculated from the date of examination, typically three to six months depending on the scheme, so the expiry cannot be treated as an independent field: move one and the other has to move with it. The clearance statement rests on the X-ray finding and the test result printed above it, and the radiograph reference ties that finding to a film the clinic holds. Identity fields have to match the passport letter for letter, middle names included, and the approval number identifies one clinic operating at one address.
Red flags in a TB certificate
A date of examination that breaks the chronology
Lay the date of examination against every other date on the document and against when the file says it was created. Backdated and extended dates tend to land in an order no real issuing system would have produced.
A chest X-ray finding that reads right but renders oddly
Zoom in on the chest X-ray finding and look at the background behind the characters. Edits often leave a faint halo, a patch of slightly different texture or spacing that was fine at full-page view.
A template that is too generic
Hospitals and labs use consistent formats with their own reference numbering. Generic wording and missing reference blocks suggest a template.
A clinic or doctor you cannot independently confirm
Check the practitioner and facility against the regulator's list. A genuine-looking letterhead on an invented practice is a common pattern.
Dates that do not fit the clinical story
Check admission, test and discharge dates against each other and against any leave or travel they were produced to justify.
How to verify a TB certificate in 4 steps
1. Check the clinic against the published panel list
Consulates publish the clinics designated to perform tuberculosis screening for their scheme. Confirm the clinic name, address, and approval number on the certificate all match one entry on that list. A number that resolves to a different clinic than the letterhead names is the clearest single failure on this document.
2. Match the identity fields to the passport
Compare the applicant's full name, date of birth and passport number against the passport itself, character for character, including middle names and any hyphenation. These certificates are routinely reused between family members, and identity fields are the fields that have to be changed to do it.
3. Recompute the validity window from the examination date
Take the date of examination and add the period the scheme allows, then compare the result with the expiry printed on the certificate. A window longer than the scheme permits means the expiry was extended on its own, which the two dates reveal together and neither reveals alone.
4. Run a forensic check on the certificate
Date and identity edits on a scanned certificate can be clean to the eye. TamperCheck analyses the file itself, scores it from 0 to 100, and reports against the region carrying the evidence, so a flagged certificate points at the date or the identifier that was changed. Cost is priced per document.
What TamperCheck checks on a TB certificate
Date and validity consistency
Issue, expiry, and period dates are checked against one another and against the file's own creation metadata, which catches backdating and validity extension.
Reference and document number checks
Document, account, and reference numbers are checked for issuer format conformance and against every other place the same value appears on the page.
Stamp authenticity and placement
Stamps are assessed for whether the ink was impressed onto the page or printed as part of it, and for whether the impression was placed digitally after the fact.
And many more checks
The three above are the layers that carry the most weight on a TB certificate. Every upload runs the full suite of 200+ checks regardless of document class, spanning file structure and metadata, pixel-level forensics, font and text rendering, optical and print characteristics, provenance signals, AI-generation signatures, and many more checks.
Check a document
Upload a PDF or a photo of TB certificate. TamperCheck returns a risk score from 0 to 100 and marks the region that was edited, usually within seconds.
For developers, the API class is tb_certificate. See the API and MCP documentation.