CDC Animal Import Form: The Dog Import Form and 2026 Requirements Explained

The CDC animal import form that most travelers and importers are looking for is the CDC Dog Import Form, a free online form required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for every dog entering or returning to the United States. Since August 1, 2024, the importer must complete it online and receive a receipt, which is presented to the airline and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at arrival. Requirements after that step depend on whether the dog spent time in a country CDC classifies as high-risk for dog rabies.

What Is the CDC Animal Import Form?

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires the CDC Dog Import Form for all dogs entering or returning to the U.S., replacing the older paper-based dog import permit and certificate system. The rule took effect August 1, 2024, under a CDC order aimed at preventing the reintroduction of dog rabies into the United States (CDC, 2024). CDC states the change followed "feedback received from the public, industry partners, and various countries" and was designed to simplify entry for low-risk dogs while tightening controls on higher-risk arrivals.

Importantly, CDC's authority here covers dogs specifically. CDC separately restricts or regulates the import of other animals — including nonhuman primates, African rodents, bats, and small turtles — but there is no single universal "CDC animal import form" covering every species. Each animal category has its own rules, discussed later in this article.

Who Needs to File the CDC Dog Import Form

The importer must complete the form — this can be the dog's owner, a commercial shipper, a "flight parent" transporting the dog on someone's behalf, or another transporter. CDC's instructions note the form "may be filled out by someone else acting on behalf of the importer" when the importer cannot complete it themselves, for example due to a disability (CDC).

The form applies to every dog entering the U.S. by air, land, or sea — including dogs owned by U.S. residents returning home, not just dogs newly imported for sale or adoption.

How to Complete the CDC Dog Import Form

According to CDC's official instructions, the process works as follows:

1. Gather information before starting: the importer's date of birth; a form of ID (passport number, driver's license number, or air waybill/bill of lading number); email address and phone number; the dog's name, age, sex, breed, color, and markings; and the dog's microchip number.
2. Upload a photo of the dog showing its face and body (JPG, JPEG, or PNG, up to 10 MB) — required for dogs arriving from high-risk countries.
3. Enter travel details: mode of travel (air, land, or sea), country or area of departure, arrival date, and the U.S. port of entry.
4. Submit the form online through CDC's Dog Import Form portal, then confirm your email address when prompted by an automated message from CDC.
5. Receive your receipt, typically generated within about 15 minutes after email confirmation, which can be printed or shown on a phone.
6. Present the receipt to airline staff at check-in or cargo acceptance and to CBP officers at the U.S. port of entry.

CDC recommends completing the form a few days before travel, though it can legally be completed on the day of travel. There is no fee to submit the form.

Required Documents by Country Risk Level

What you need beyond the CDC Dog Import Form receipt depends on where the dog has been in the six months before arrival and where it received its rabies vaccine. CDC groups requirements into three main pathways.

Regardless of category, CDC requires every imported dog to be at least 6 months old and microchipped with a chip readable by a universal scanner. The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccine is given, or CDC will not accept that vaccination record as valid.

Fees, Deadlines, and Receipt Validity

The CDC Dog Import Form itself is free. The receipt's validity period is the main deadline to track: for dogs coming only from rabies-free or low-risk countries, the receipt covers multiple entries for six months from issuance, provided the departure country doesn't change. For dogs connected to a high-risk country, the receipt is valid for a single entry only, and a new form is required for each trip or for each additional dog.

As of September 2026, CDC has not announced a fee for the form itself, though separate costs apply for veterinary certifications, rabies titer testing, and CDC-registered facility quarantine stays when high-risk-country rules apply.

2024 Rule Change and 2026 Updates

CDC's current dog import system began August 1, 2024, when the agency replaced the prior paper CDC Dog Import Permit and various country-specific certificates with the single online Dog Import Form receipt for lower-risk dogs. CDC's July 2024 announcement described the goal as protecting public health from dog rabies reintroduction while reducing paperwork for the majority of traveling dogs (CDC, 2024).

More recently, CDC's own Dog Import Form instructions page confirms: "On February 5, 2026, the CDC Dog Import Form web system was updated. The update provides a new look and formatting for the receipt — there are no changes to importation requirements" (CDC). In other words, as of September 2026, the underlying rules — microchip, age, vaccination, and risk-country categories — are the same as they were in 2024; only the receipt's visual design changed, and receipts issued before the update remain valid until they expire.

Does CDC Regulate Other Animals Besides Dogs?

Yes, but not through the same online form. CDC's importation regulations also cover nonhuman primates (monkeys), African rodents, bats, civets, and small turtles, largely because of documented disease risks — for example, a 2003 monkeypox outbreak in the U.S. was traced to imported African rodents that infected pet prairie dogs. CDC prohibits importing nonhuman primates, African rodents, and bats as pets under any circumstances; African rodents may only be imported with CDC's written permission for scientific, exhibition, or educational purposes. These categories each have their own CDC guidance pages rather than a shared "animal import form," so anyone importing an animal other than a dog should check CDC's importation site for the specific species before traveling.

For dogs, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) plays a narrower supporting role: APHIS enforces rules only for dogs coming from countries affected by foot-and-mouth disease (bathing on arrival and five days' separation from livestock, no paperwork) or by screwworm (an official government veterinary certificate issued within 5 days of shipment, confirming the dog is free of screwworm). CDC remains the lead agency for the import form and rabies-related entry rules.

CDC Animal Import Form vs. Livestock Identity Records

It's worth being precise about what the CDC Dog Import Form is not: it is a U.S. government entry document tied to rabies control for pet dogs crossing the U.S. border, not a general animal identity or ownership record, and not a veterinary diagnosis. It also has no connection to livestock identification products used on farms.

Animal Passport is a separate, unrelated product: a digital livestock passport that uses muzzle biometrics — a nose print, unique to each animal like a human fingerprint — captured with a phone camera. A record built this way can bind an owner to a specific animal along with its breed, an estimated age generated from a dental photograph with a confidence score, a body condition score (1–5) from a side-profile photo, and vaccination history. This kind of record has practical value in situations where paper ear tags or tags are lost, such as during the August 2025 livestock flood rescue in Pakistan, when farmers used the biometric record to reclaim animals after paper tags had washed away. It is a farm and ownership identity tool, not a government import form, and it does not substitute for CDC's Dog Import Form, USDA APHIS certificates, or any other official travel or import document. Readers researching both official CDC/USDA forms and livestock identity tools can find more background on the Animal Passport blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the CDC animal import form?

It is commonly used to refer to the CDC Dog Import Form, a free online form the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires for every dog entering or returning to the United States since August 1, 2024. Other animals, such as monkeys or turtles, fall under separate CDC restrictions rather than this same form.

Is the CDC Dog Import Form the same as a pet passport?

No. The CDC Dog Import Form is a U.S. entry requirement tied to rabies control, while a "pet passport" typically refers to the European Union's PETS scheme documentation used for travel within the EU. They are issued by different authorities for different purposes and are not interchangeable.

How much does the CDC Dog Import Form cost?

CDC does not charge a fee to submit the Dog Import Form itself. Additional costs can arise from veterinary certifications, rabies serology titer testing, or CDC-registered facility quarantine stays required for dogs from high-risk countries.

How long is the CDC Dog Import Form receipt valid?

For dogs that stayed only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries, the receipt is valid for six months and covers multiple entries from the same departure country. For dogs connected to a high-risk country, the receipt covers a single entry only.

What happens if a dog isn't microchipped?

CDC requires every imported dog to have a microchip readable by a universal scanner, implanted before the rabies vaccine is given. A dog without a valid, scannable microchip does not meet CDC's entry requirements regardless of its country of origin.

Can puppies under 6 months enter the U.S.?

Generally no — CDC requires imported dogs to be at least 6 months old, and rabies vaccination cannot be given before 12 weeks of age, which affects how quickly a young puppy can meet all requirements.

Did the CDC Dog Import Form change in 2026?

CDC confirms that on February 5, 2026, it updated the look and formatting of the Dog Import Form receipt, but the underlying importation requirements did not change. Receipts issued under the previous design remain valid until their original expiration date.

Does USDA APHIS also require a form for imported dogs?

USDA APHIS does not require a general import form for pet dogs; CDC's Dog Import Form is the primary requirement. APHIS only adds documentation for dogs from countries affected by foot-and-mouth disease or screwworm, such as a veterinary certificate confirming the dog is free of screwworm.