Pet Travel International: The USDA APHIS and CDC Forms You Actually Need

Pet travel international is the cross-border movement of a companion animal under the destination country's entry rules. As of September 2026, USDA APHIS, the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, endorses the health certificate the destination requires. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires a Dog Import Form receipt for every dog entering or returning to the United States. Rabies paperwork must be finished before departure. These forms are not a livestock record.

This guide is published by Animal Passport and was last updated in September 2026. It is not veterinary diagnosis and it is not legal advice. Reopen the USDA APHIS country page and the CDC dog-import page before every trip.

What pet travel international requires before you leave

The destination country sets the entry conditions. The National Veterinary Accreditation Program reference guide, last modified by USDA APHIS on January 13, 2026, states that the USDA does not have requirements for exporting privately owned dogs and cats. Most international pet health certificates still need USDA APHIS endorsement because the importing country asks for it.

The USDA does not have requirements for exporting privately owned dogs and cats. However, most international pet animal health certificates now require USDA-APHIS endorsement.

On its export page last modified August 14, 2026, USDA APHIS tells owners to contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as travel is decided. That veterinarian checks vaccinations, tests, and treatments and helps obtain the endorsed certificate when one is required.

Accreditation is state-specific and voluntary. The pet travel process overview, last modified June 18, 2026, says the veterinarian must have completed National Veterinary Accreditation Program training in the state where they are licensed. A veterinarian who is not accredited cannot issue a certificate that USDA APHIS must endorse.

Which animals qualify as pets

For this process, USDA APHIS treats a pet as a privately owned companion animal not intended for research or resale. The endorsement-fee page last modified June 18, 2026, lists dogs, cats, ferrets, rabbits, rodents, hedgehogs and tenrecs, reptiles, amphibians, and some birds.

Pigs, chickens, and other livestock or poultry do not use the pet path. Birds regulated as poultry, including ducks, geese, turkeys, and quail, follow separate rules because they may carry disease to the U.S. poultry industry. Livestock export follows Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 91. VS Form 17-140, the U.S. Origin Health Certificate, can be used when no country-specific certificate exists.

The official forms, compared

As of September 2026, the correct document depends on direction of travel, species, and whether a dog has been in a high-risk country for dog rabies.

Steps to a USDA-endorsed health certificate

1. Contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as you decide to leave the United States, and confirm accreditation in the examination state.
2. Provide the species, destination, any stop where the pet leaves the airport or seaport, the departure date, and whether the pet travels in the cabin, as cargo, or alone.
3. Finish the destination's microchip, vaccination, test, and treatment rules before the accredited veterinarian signs the certificate.
4. Submit once. Option 1 is the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS), used by the accredited veterinarian. Option 2 is shipping the original to a USDA endorsement office. Do not use both.
5. Pay before endorsement. Include vaccine records, lab results, and an import permit if required. If digital endorsement is not accepted, add a prepaid express return label with your address in both To and From. Do not print the USDA address on that label.
6. Carry the original signed or endorsed paperwork. USDA APHIS states that destination officials will not accept electronic versions.

You may have only a short window, for example 30 days, to get endorsement and to travel. USDA APHIS gives tapeworm treatment for dogs going to Finland, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Malta as a treatment some countries allow after endorsement. Airline cabin, checked-baggage, and cargo rules are separate. CDC's form instructions dated April 28, 2026, use three air categories for arriving dogs: hand-carried, checked baggage, and cargo.

CDC rules for dogs on the way back

CDC is the primary authority for dogs imported into the United States, including returning U.S.-origin dogs. USDA APHIS says so on its export page last modified August 14, 2026. CDC may still require a USDA-endorsed rabies form.

CDC's FAQ, updated August 27, 2026, states that every dog entering or returning must have a CDC Dog Import Form receipt. Dogs only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries need no other CDC document, but they must appear healthy, be at least six months old, and carry a microchip a universal scanner can read. Each dog needs its own receipt.

How the CDC Dog Import Form works

The importer completes the form online, confirms an email, and receives a receipt that can be printed or shown on a phone. Show it to the airline before boarding and to U.S. Customs and Border Protection on arrival. That phone copy does not replace the original export certificate.

On February 5, 2026, CDC changed the receipt's look, not the rules. An older accurate, unexpired receipt is still accepted. A low-risk receipt covers multiple entries from the same country for six months. A new departure country needs a new receipt. A high-risk receipt covers one entry and asks for a face-and-body photo. Dogs under one year should be photographed within 15 days of arrival.

High-risk countries and rabies forms

CDC's Bringing a Dog into the U.S. page, dated August 1, 2024, ties the rules to where the dog was vaccinated and which countries it visited in the prior six months. An unvaccinated dog that has been in a high-risk country in that window will not be allowed to enter.

A U.S.-vaccinated dog needs the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination, completed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed before departure. USDA APHIS stated on August 14, 2026, that it cannot be issued retroactively. The first rabies vaccine must be given on or after 12 weeks (84 days) of age. For a first vaccine, the form is completed at least 28 days later. A booster is valid immediately if coverage never lapsed.

CDC still accepts a USDA-endorsed export health certificate issued by an accredited veterinarian no later than July 31, 2025, even if endorsement came later. It must be in USDA's database and must list an age of at least six months, the microchip, and a current U.S. rabies vaccination given after the chip was implanted. Certificates issued after July 31, 2025, do not meet CDC dog-import rules. If the dog already left without the certification, CDC says to use the foreign-vaccinated path.

That path needs a Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip endorsed by an official government veterinarian, a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility, and arrival at that facility's airport. Land-border entry is not allowed. Service animals defined in 14 CFR 382.3 may arrive by seaport only with a valid rabies serology titer. Emotional support animals are not service animals under that definition. CDC's FAQ describes a 28-day quarantine. A personal pet or service dog may shorten it only through approved serologic monitoring. Dogs imported for rescue, resale, adoption, or a change of ownership cannot. If the protocol is not followed, the dog quarantines for 28 days at the importer's expense.

Any microchip brand is acceptable if a universal scanner reads it. If the number does not start with 9, confirm readability before travel. A high-risk dog that cannot be scanned may be denied entry and returned at the importer's expense. Travel only among Canada, Mexico, and the United States needs the CDC form alone, reusable for six months if the departure country stays the same. Staying in the vehicle at a land border is not an exemption.

When APHIS Form 7001 is the right certificate

APHIS Form 7001 is the United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals. The USDA APHIS PDF is the November 2010 edition, and it says the certificate is valid for 30 days after issuance. A licensed veterinarian records identity, the owner, the consignee, and vaccine, treatment, and test history, then certifies the exam.

The accreditation guide last modified January 13, 2026, says Form 7001 is for countries with no specific form, and that airlines may ask for it in addition to a country-specific certificate. USDA APHIS typically cannot endorse Form 7001 when a country-specific international health certificate exists. The 30-day line on the form is not every country's deadline.

USDA APHIS endorsement fees as of 2026

The cost page last modified June 18, 2026, charges per certificate, and payment is due before endorsement. Vaccines are not laboratory tests and do not change the amount.

• No laboratory tests, any number of pets: $101 per certificate.
• One or two tests, one pet: $160, plus $10 for each additional pet on the same certificate.
• Three to six tests, one pet: $206, plus $18 for each additional pet.
• Seven or more tests, one pet: $275, plus $21 for each additional pet.

USDA APHIS waives the endorsement fee for service dogs of people with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Emotional support animals are charged. Listed payment methods are an APHIS user fee credit account and a credit or debit card.

The EU pet passport is a different document

The European Commission's page on travelling with a pet within the EU places non-commercial movement of dogs, cats, and ferrets under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131. The trip must not be a sale or a change of ownership. The animal travels with its owner or under the owner's responsibility. The usual cap is five dogs, cats, or ferrets, with a narrow exception for competitions, exhibitions, and sporting events.

The animal must be microchipped. An official or authorised veterinarian gives the rabies vaccine at 12 weeks of age or older, and not before identification. A primary course is valid not less than 21 days after the protocol is completed. The passport follows Annex I, Part 1, of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/705. It records the microchip or tattoo, the rabies vaccination, and any required treatment for the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. If another person moves the animal, the owner must travel within five days before or after and attach a written declaration.

The tapeworm wording is not identical across agencies. USDA APHIS lists treatment for dogs going to Finland, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Malta as something some countries allow after endorsement. The Commission page applies the treatment to dogs, not cats or ferrets, before entry to Finland, Ireland, Malta, the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland), and Norway. A veterinarian gives an approved product containing praziquantel, or an equivalent, not more than 120 hours and not less than 24 hours before entry, and writes it in the passport. Read both pages before you treat the USDA stamp date as the last step.

Older EU passports can still be used. The Commission accepts a passport issued under Commission Decision 2003/803/EC before December 29, 2014, one issued under Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 before April 22, 2026, and a 577/2013 model issued before January 1, 2028. A private booklet printed in the United States is none of those documents.

Animal Passport records livestock identity, not border clearance

Animal Passport, the publisher of this article, makes a digital livestock passport that uses muzzle biometrics. A nose print is unique in the way a fingerprint is unique. Capture is done by phone. The record binds the owner, breed, estimated age, body condition, and vaccination history. Age is estimated from a dental photograph and returned with a confidence score. Body condition is scored from 1 to 5 from a side-profile photo.

In August 2025, the records were used during livestock flood rescue in Pakistan so farmers could reclaim animals when paper tags washed away. It is not a USDA endorsement, a CDC Dog Import Form, or an EU pet passport under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131. Only the government document that matches the route is a border document. Product details are on Animal Passport and the Animal Passport blog.

What to carry on travel day

As of September 2026, the outbound packet is the destination health certificate, endorsed if required, plus the vaccine and laboratory papers it relies on. A returning dog also needs the CDC Dog Import Form receipt and, after time in a high-risk country, the matching rabies certification. The CDC form in this guide is for dogs. Cats and other qualifying pets still follow USDA APHIS and the destination country.

• Carry the original endorsed health certificate. Destination officials will not accept a phone copy.
• Carry one CDC Dog Import Form receipt per dog, on paper or on a phone, for the airline and for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
• Use the same microchip number on every rabies form, and confirm a universal scanner can read it before a high-risk trip.
• Confirm cabin, checked baggage, or cargo with the airline. Carrier rules sit on top of USDA APHIS and CDC rules.

If the clinic has no USDA-accredited veterinarian, CDC's August 27, 2026 FAQ describes two options. A veterinarian there can become accredited, or you can take the rabies record to a clinic that already has an accredited veterinarian and ask whether that veterinarian will issue the form from the existing certificate. CDC does not require a new vaccine for the second option. The receiving veterinarian might. Dog-import questions go to CDC-INFO at 800-232-4636. Certificate endorsement questions go to askvets@usda.gov. Neither office can waive another country's entry rule.