International Pet Travel: USDA APHIS and CDC Forms You Need in 2026

International pet travel is the lawful movement of a privately owned companion animal across a national border. As of August 2026, U.S. owners typically need a destination-specific health certificate issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and, when required, endorsed by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS). Every dog entering or returning to the United States also needs a free CDC Dog Import Form receipt. No single U.S. form replaces those official documents.

This guide is published by Animal Passport and last updated 19 August 2026. It summarizes USDA APHIS, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pages. It is not legal advice or veterinary diagnosis. Confirm current rules with those agencies, your airline, and the destination country before you book.

Who regulates international pet travel from the United States?

USDA APHIS Veterinary Services helps owners meet foreign entry rules when a pet leaves the United States. CDC is the primary U.S. authority for dog imports, including U.S.-origin dogs coming home, according to the APHIS export page last modified 14 August 2026. CBP officers enforce those rules at ports of entry. States, territories, and airlines add their own requirements.

APHIS defines a pet as a privately owned companion animal not intended for research or resale. Animals that qualify on that 14 August 2026 page include dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, rodents, hedgehogs and tenrecs, reptiles, amphibians, and some birds. Livestock, poultry, and birds such as chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, and turkeys follow different live-animal rules.

Taking a pet from the United States: USDA APHIS export

The destination country sets entry rules, and APHIS states those rules can change at any time. Contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as you decide to travel. Accreditation is state-specific training under the National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP); not every licensed veterinarian is accredited. APHIS accredited-veterinarian frequently asked questions last modified 30 July 2025 warn that the process can take a few weeks to many months.

1. Confirm destination and transit rules on the APHIS pet travel country list (export page last modified 14 August 2026).
2. Complete microchip, rabies, titer, or parasite steps on the destination's timetable.
3. Have a USDA-accredited veterinarian complete, sign, and date the correct certificate. APHIS states there is not one standard health certificate for all countries.
4. If the destination requires USDA endorsement, submit the certificate through the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS).
5. If a dog will visit a CDC high-risk dog-rabies country and return, obtain the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination before the dog leaves.
6. Ask the airline whether it wants extra paperwork, such as APHIS Form 7001.

APHIS cannot waive another country's import rules. If a pet cannot meet them, the owner must seek written permission in English from that country's ministry of agriculture, according to the APHIS veterinarian FAQ (30 July 2025).

VEHCS is APHIS's secure online system for creating, issuing, submitting, and endorsing live-animal export certificates. The VEHCS page last modified 9 June 2026 states that APHIS accepts electronic signatures from USDA-accredited veterinarians for all destination countries when certificates go through VEHCS. With few exceptions, APHIS does not examine the pet at endorsement; it needs the completed certificate, supporting documents, and payment (APHIS FAQ, 30 July 2025).

APHIS Form 7001 is the United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals. If a country-specific health certificate is posted on the APHIS pet travel pages, that is the only certificate the pet needs for that country and the only one APHIS can endorse (30 July 2025). Airlines may still want Form 7001 for boarding. Form 7001 does not replace an EU pet passport, a CDC Dog Import Form, or a USDA-endorsed country certificate.

USDA APHIS endorsement fees as of 2026

APHIS charges a user fee to endorse each pet health certificate. The cost-to-endorse page last modified 18 June 2026 states that payment is due before endorsement, veterinarian fees are extra, and vaccines are not laboratory tests for fee calculation. APHIS does not charge endorsement fees for service animals (dogs) belonging to people with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). USDA announced adjusted Veterinary Services user fees in a Federal Register final notice effective 10 January 2025 (Docket No. APHIS-2023-0058).

Bringing a dog into the United States: CDC forms

Pets that leave the United States are, on return, subject to the same CDC import rules as animals entering for the first time, according to CDC's Bringing an Animal into the U.S. page dated 22 August 2025. CDC does not require a general certificate of health for pets to enter the United States, but states and airlines may. CDC dog rules that took effect 1 August 2024 still structure the return trip in 2026. Requirements depend on whether the dog was in any high-risk dog-rabies country during the six months before U.S. entry and where it was vaccinated. CDC's high-risk list was last updated 15 April 2026; countries not listed are treated as dog-rabies-free or low-risk for these rules. Unvaccinated dogs that have been in a high-risk country in the past six months are not allowed to enter.

What is the CDC Dog Import Form?

All dogs entering or returning to the United States must travel with a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, according to CDC dog-importation frequently asked questions dated 28 April 2026. The form is free. Each dog needs its own form. CDC updated the web system's look on 5 February 2026 and stated that importation requirements did not change. For air travel, CDC form instructions dated 28 April 2026 require showing the receipt to the airline before boarding and to CBP on arrival.

• Low-risk itinerary: If the dog has been only in dog-rabies-free or low-risk countries for six months, the CDC Dog Import Form is the only CDC document. The receipt is valid for six months and for multiple U.S. entries from the same country of departure. These dogs may enter at any airport, seaport, or land border (CDC, 22 July 2024). They must appear healthy, be at least 6 months old, and have a microchip a universal scanner can detect.
• High-risk itinerary: The receipt is valid for a single entry on the arrival date listed. If the date or port changes, submit a new form. The form requires a photo of the dog's face and body; dogs under 1 year should be photographed within 15 days before U.S. travel.

Frequent Canada or Mexico land travel is simpler only if the dog has stayed inside Canada, Mexico, and the United States. CDC FAQs (28 April 2026) then require only the online form, valid for multiple entries for six months if the country of departure does not change.

Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination

If a dog received its rabies vaccine in the United States and has been in a high-risk country in the past six months, CDC's page dated 28 April 2026 requires two documents: the CDC Dog Import Form receipt and the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination. This is not the ordinary rabies certificate used for local licensing. A USDA-accredited veterinarian completes the CDC form in USDA's online system; USDA endorses it; the owner travels with a printed copy.

This form cannot be issued retroactively after your dog leaves the United States.

United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS), Take a Pet From the United States to Another Country, last modified 14 August 2026.

For a first rabies vaccination, CDC (28 April 2026) requires the dog to be at least 12 weeks (84 days) old at vaccination and the certification form to be completed at least 28 days later. Boosters are valid immediately if coverage has not lapsed. The form can be reused while the U.S. rabies vaccine remains valid, usually 1 or 3 years. The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccine, or CDC treats the vaccine as invalid for high-risk return. CDC still accepts a USDA-endorsed export health certificate as a substitute only if a USDA-accredited veterinarian issued it no later than 31 July 2025 and it lists age (at least 6 months), microchip number, and current U.S. rabies vaccination given after the microchip. Certificates issued after 31 July 2025 are not accepted for CDC dog importation.

Foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries

CDC's foreign-vaccinated high-risk page dated 22 July 2024 requires a Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form completed by a veterinarian and endorsed by an official government veterinarian in the exporting country, no more than 30 days before travel. The importer must also have a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, a microchip placed before rabies vaccination, a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility, and an itinerary that lands at the U.S. airport where that facility is located. CDC states there are currently no such facilities in Alaska, Hawaii, or U.S. territories. Foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries may not enter at a land border. A valid rabies serology titer from a CDC-approved laboratory can avoid a 28-day quarantine; without a passing titer, the reservation must include quarantine. Facility costs are the importer's responsibility.

APHIS import add-ons: foot-and-mouth disease and screwworm

APHIS Veterinary Services has extra dog-import requirements when the dog comes from a country affected by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or screwworm, according to the APHIS dog-import page last modified 1 April 2026. From an FMD-affected region, fur and bedding must be free of excessive dirt, hay, or straw; the dog should be bathed on arrival and kept separate from livestock for 5 days. APHIS states no documentation is required for that FMD protocol.

From a screwworm-affected region, the dog may enter only with a certificate signed by a full-time salaried veterinary official of the region of origin stating the dog was inspected for screwworm within 5 days before shipment and is free of screwworm, or was infested, quarantined, and treated until free. For Mexico, APHIS (1 April 2026) says a clinical veterinarian trained and authorized to sign on behalf of the official government veterinarian may issue that certification. CBP's national media release dated 26 June 2026 restated the general official-veterinarian wording and reminded travelers that Mexico-to-U.S. dogs must also carry a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, appear healthy, be 6 months old, and be microchipped. Follow the current APHIS Mexico note and confirm at the port.

Official U.S. forms compared

Cats returning to the United States

CDC (22 August 2025) requires cats to appear healthy at arrival. Cats are not required to have proof of rabies vaccination for federal importation, but CDC recommends vaccination, and the destination state may require it. All cats arriving in Hawaii and Guam, even from the U.S. mainland, face locally imposed quarantine. The CDC Dog Import Form applies to dogs, not cats.

How Animal Passport differs from official travel documents

Search results for international pet travel often mix USDA APHIS and CDC forms, European Union pet-passport and PETS schemes, and private digital identity products. They are not interchangeable. An EU pet passport is a government veterinary booklet under EU law. A USDA-endorsed health certificate is an export document for a named destination. A CDC Dog Import Form is a U.S. public-health receipt for dogs.

Animal Passport is a digital animal and livestock identity record. Capture is phone-based. A muzzle (nose-print) biometric, unique like a fingerprint, binds the record to the animal, together with owner, breed, estimated age, body condition, and vaccination history. Age is estimated from a dental photograph with a confidence score. Body condition is scored 1–5 from a side-profile photo. In August 2025 the product was used in livestock flood rescue in Pakistan so farmers could reclaim animals after paper tags washed away. Animal Passport is not a USDA APHIS travel certificate, not a CDC Dog Import Form, and not an EU pet passport. It does not authorize boarding or border crossing. For more on animal identity records, see the Animal Passport blogs.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a U.S. government pet passport for international pet travel?

No. As of August 2026, USDA APHIS and CDC use destination-specific health certificates, VEHCS endorsement, and the CDC Dog Import Form. A private digital passport is not a substitute.

Do I need both a USDA health certificate and a CDC Dog Import Form?

Often yes for a round trip with a dog. The USDA-endorsed certificate is for leaving the United States. The CDC Dog Import Form is required for every dog entering or returning, according to CDC (28 April 2026).

Can I complete the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination after I go abroad?

No. USDA APHIS (14 August 2026) states the form cannot be issued retroactively. Without it, a U.S.-vaccinated dog returning from a high-risk country must follow foreign-vaccinated high-risk CDC rules.

How much does USDA APHIS charge to endorse a pet certificate?

As listed on 18 June 2026, APHIS charges $101 per certificate with no laboratory tests, then $160, $206, or $275 depending on the number of tests, plus small add-on fees for extra pets. Vaccines do not count as tests. ADA service dogs are not charged the APHIS endorsement fee.