USDA Travel With Pets: Official APHIS Health Certificates, Fees, and CDC Forms

USDA travel with pets is the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) process for moving companion animals using accredited-veterinarian health certificates and USDA endorsement when a destination country requires it. As of August 2026, the United States does not issue pet passports. Dogs re-entering the United States also need separate Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) import documents, including a free CDC Dog Import Form receipt for every dog.

This guide, last updated 19 August 2026 by Animal Passport, maps official forms, endorsement fees, and return-to-U.S. rules from USDA APHIS and CDC. It is not legal advice and does not replace a USDA-accredited veterinarian. A digital livestock identity product is not a government travel document; that distinction is explained below.

What USDA APHIS means by pet travel

APHIS defines a pet as a privately owned companion animal not intended for research or resale, and only certain species qualify. The APHIS pet-travel hub, last modified 20 March 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 pet-travel rules. They fall under live-animal import and export regulations instead.

The National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP) reference on international animal movement, last modified 13 January 2026, states that USDA does not set export health requirements for privately owned dogs and cats. The importing country does. USDA APHIS’s role is to issue or endorse the health certificate that country demands, after a USDA-accredited veterinarian examines the animal and completes the form.

Because pet entry requirements vary by country, the United States does not issue pet passports for international travel. Instead, we issue health certificates that confirm your pet meets the unique requirements of your destination country.

That statement is from the APHIS frequently asked questions page last modified 12 January 2026. A European Union pet passport, the United Kingdom Pet Travel Scheme, or an airline carrier form is a different document. So is the biometric livestock record published by Animal Passport; it does not substitute for APHIS endorsement.

How to take a pet from the United States to another country

APHIS’s export page, last modified 14 August 2026, tells owners to contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as travel is decided. Accreditation is state-specific, voluntary, and not held by every clinic. A licensed veterinarian who is not USDA-accredited generally cannot issue a certificate that APHIS will endorse.

The Pet Travel Process Overview, last modified 18 June 2026, describes the sequence below. Country rules change, so APHIS instructs owners to re-check the destination page for every trip.

1. Confirm the animal qualifies as a pet under the APHIS species list, not as livestock, poultry, or a commercial shipment.
2. Find a USDA-accredited veterinarian in the state of examination. The veterinarian needs the species, destination, any transit countries where the pet will clear customs or leave the airport, the U.S. departure date, and whether the animal will fly in cabin, as cargo, or unaccompanied.
3. Look up destination-country requirements on the APHIS pet-travel country menu. Typical items include an ISO-compatible microchip, rabies timing, blood tests, parasite treatments, and sometimes an import permit. APHIS cannot waive another country’s rules.
4. Build a calendar. APHIS’s FAQ, last modified 12 January 2026, says the process can take a few weeks to many months. Rabies waiting periods, titer labs, and endorsement shipping all consume time.
5. Have the accredited veterinarian issue the correct health certificate for that species and country, signed and dated within the destination’s validity window. Using an outdated template is a common reason APHIS delays endorsement.
6. Submit the certificate for USDA endorsement if the destination requires a countersignature and stamp. The veterinarian should use the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS), or you may mail originals to an APHIS endorsement office. APHIS says to use one path, not both.
7. Travel with the original endorsed paperwork. The process overview states that destination officials will not accept electronic copies in place of the original signed or endorsed certificate, even when some countries also accept USDA’s digital VEHCS endorsement. Ask the accredited veterinarian which format the country currently accepts.
8. Finish post-endorsement treatments and airline checks. APHIS notes that tapeworm treatment for dogs going to Finland, Ireland, Norway, Malta, and the United Kingdom may be allowed after endorsement. Airlines may demand extra forms that APHIS will not stamp.

APHIS Veterinary Export Trade Services, last modified 16 April 2026, does not offer in-person drop-off. Routine VEHCS processing is staffed Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Time, excluding federal holidays. Status questions go to the accredited veterinarian, not the endorsement office.

Which official form do you actually need?

There is no single U.S. pet-travel form. APHIS’s FAQ states that each country sets its own certificate. The NVAP international-movement guide adds that APHIS Form 7001, the United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals, can occasionally be used when no country-specific form exists. Airlines may still demand Form 7001 even when a country-specific certificate is required. APHIS typically cannot endorse Form 7001 if a country-specific international health certificate already exists.

The accredited-veterinarian guidance page, last modified 1 April 2026, is explicit: if a veterinarian issues two certificates, USDA can endorse only the one required by the destination country. Do not send an airline-only Form 7001 to APHIS unless that destination lists it.

How much USDA endorsement costs in 2026

APHIS charges a user fee to endorse each pet health certificate. Those fees are separate from the veterinarian’s exam, vaccines, and lab work. The Cost to Endorse Your Pet’s Health Certificate page, last modified 18 June 2026, lists the following APHIS fees. Vaccines do not count as tests when the fee is calculated.

• Zero laboratory tests: $101 per certificate, any number of pets, according to USDA APHIS in 2026.
• One or two tests: $160 for the first pet, plus $10 for each additional pet on the same certificate, according to USDA APHIS in 2026.
• Three to six tests: $206 for the first pet, plus $18 for each additional pet, according to USDA APHIS in 2026.
• Seven or more tests: $275 for the first pet, plus $21 for each additional pet, according to USDA APHIS in 2026.

Payment must be on file before endorsement. Accepted methods on the 2026 fee page include an APHIS user-fee credit account and a credit or debit card. APHIS does not charge endorsement fees for service dogs belonging to people with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Emotional support animals are charged the standard fee.

Returning to the United States: CDC rules that sit beside USDA

Leaving the United States and coming home are different legal tracks. CDC is the primary U.S. authority for dog imports, including U.S.-origin dogs that return. APHIS Veterinary Services adds extra conditions only for dogs arriving from regions affected by foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or screwworm, according to the APHIS dog-import page last modified 1 April 2026.

As of August 2026, CDC requires every dog entering the United States to have a CDC Dog Import Form receipt. The form is free. CDC’s Dog Import Form instructions, dated 28 April 2026, state that a web-system update on 5 February 2026 changed the look of the receipt but did not change import requirements. Older receipts remain valid if the information is accurate and unexpired.

Dogs that stayed in low-risk or rabies-free countries

Starting 1 August 2024, CDC’s only required document for dogs that spent the previous six months solely in dog-rabies-free or low-risk countries is the CDC Dog Import Form, according to CDC’s low-risk entry page dated 22 July 2024. The dog must still appear healthy, be at least six months old, and carry a microchip readable by a universal scanner. Those dogs may arrive at any airport, seaport, or land border. The receipt is valid for six months for multiple entries from the same country of departure. A new receipt is needed if the departure country changes, for example from Canada to France.

Dogs that visited a high-risk dog-rabies country

CDC’s high-risk country list, dated 15 April 2026, names the places counted as high risk for importing dog rabies. If a country is not on that list, CDC treats it as low-risk or rabies-free for this purpose. Dogs that have been in any listed country in the past six months face extra paperwork.

For U.S.-vaccinated dogs, CDC’s high-risk re-entry page dated 28 April 2026 requires two documents: the CDC Dog Import Form receipt and a Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination form completed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by USDA before the dog leaves the United States. That CDC form is not a clinic rabies tag or a county license certificate. USDA-endorsed export health certificates issued after 31 July 2025 are not accepted as a substitute. Certificates issued no later than 31 July 2025 may still be used if they are in USDA’s database and list age (at least six months), microchip number, and a valid U.S. rabies vaccination given after the microchip was implanted.

If the dog leaves without that endorsed CDC rabies form, CDC says the animal must follow the stricter foreign-vaccinated pathway: a Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip endorsed by an official government veterinarian, often a rabies serology titer from a CDC-approved laboratory, and a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility at a designated U.S. airport. Foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries cannot enter at a land border.

APHIS still applies its own livestock-disease rules. From an FMD-affected region, APHIS requires the dog’s fur and bedding to be free of excessive dirt, hay, or straw, then bathing on arrival and five days of separation from livestock; no FMD certificate is required. From a screwworm-affected region, APHIS requires a certificate from a full-time salaried veterinary official of the origin country stating the dog was inspected within five days before shipment and was free of screwworm or treated until free.

Cats and other animals

CDC’s bringing-an-animal page, dated 22 August 2025, does not require a general health certificate for pets to enter the United States, though states and airlines may. Cats must appear healthy at the port of entry. CDC does not require proof of rabies vaccination for cats, while recommending vaccination and warning that the destination state may. Hawaii and Guam impose their own cat quarantines even for animals arriving from the U.S. mainland. CDC also does not allow nonhuman primates to be imported as pets.

Traveling from one U.S. state or territory to another

APHIS does not regulate interstate movement of pets by their owners and does not endorse health certificates for state-to-state travel, according to the interstate page last modified 10 June 2026 and the FAQ last modified 12 January 2026. The receiving state or territory sets requirements. Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands can be stricter than mainland states. Start with the destination state veterinarian, not an APHIS endorsement office.

What this is not: EU pet passports and Animal Passport

Search results for USDA travel with pets often mix three unrelated systems. Keep them separate:

• USDA APHIS health certificates are the official U.S. export documents described above. They are not passports.
• EU pet passports and the UK pet travel scheme are European government documents. They do not replace a USDA-endorsed certificate when a pet leaves the United States.
• Animal Passport at animalpassport.co is a digital animal and livestock identity record that uses muzzle biometrics (a nose print unique like a fingerprint). Capture is phone-based. The record can bind owner, breed, estimated age, body condition, and vaccination history. Age can be estimated from a dental photograph with a confidence score, and body condition can be 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. It is not a USDA, APHIS, or CDC travel document and is not a veterinary diagnosis.

Owners who keep vaccination dates and identity photos in one place still must obtain the government certificate from a USDA-accredited veterinarian. For more field notes on identity after disasters and movement, see the Animal Passport blogs.

A practical checklist before you book the ticket

1. Verify the destination country’s current APHIS pet page and any transit-country rules.
2. Confirm a USDA-accredited veterinarian can see the animal inside the certificate’s validity window.
3. If the dog will visit a CDC high-risk rabies country, arrange the Certification of U.S.-Issued Rabies Vaccination and USDA endorsement before departure. First rabies vaccines must be given at 12 weeks of age or later, and CDC requires the form at least 28 days after a first vaccine.
4. Budget APHIS endorsement fees plus veterinary and lab costs. Service dogs under the ADA are exempt from the APHIS endorsement fee; emotional support animals are not.
5. Complete a CDC Dog Import Form for each dog before the return flight. Show the receipt to the airline and to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
6. Carry originals of every endorsed certificate. Check the airline’s crate, cabin, and temperature-embargo rules separately.
7. If you also keep livestock, do not treat a pet health certificate as a livestock export certificate. Those species use different APHIS live-animal rules.

As of August 2026, the fastest path is still the official one: an accredited veterinarian, the destination’s current form, APHIS endorsement when required, and CDC dog documents for the way home. Recheck APHIS and CDC the week you travel. Neither agency’s website is a substitute for the veterinarian who signs the certificate.