Can I use a photograph of a Northern Ireland MOT certificate as a replacement certificate?

A photograph may be useful for your records, but it is not a newly issued duplicate certificate from DVA.

If you need an official replacement of a valid MOT certificate, use DVA's duplicate-certificate service with the registration and the last four digits of the VIN. DVA issues an exact copy of the original certificate; it does not create a new test or extend expiry. For routine status checks, the official MOT-history service is often more useful than a photograph. A Temporary Exemption Certificate has different handling and cannot simply be replaced by ordering a duplicate MOT certificate.