Pet Travel Process Overview

As soon as you decide to travel, contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian to determine the destination country’s requirements, including any necessary vaccinations, tests, or treatments. We recommend creating a schedule to make sure all requirements are met within the specified timeframe.

Every country has its own set of health requirements for pets that may require your pet to get a microchip, specific vaccinations, or undergo certain tests. Use the Pet Owner Worksheet (103.1 KB) to capture the information you need to plan for your pet’s trip and complete the process for obtaining a health certificate.

Country Requirements

Country requirements can change frequently. Be sure to verify your destination’s requirements every time you plan to travel with your pet. The country requirements pages provide essential information for civilians, military service members, brokers, pet shipping companies, and accredited veterinarians.

A USDA-accredited veterinarian must issue all live animal export certificates (including pet health certificates) that are required to be endorsed (co-signed) by USDA. A USDA-accredited veterinarian has completed formal training from the National Veterinary Accreditation Program (NVAP) in the State(s) in which they are licensed to practice medicine. Accreditation is State-specific and voluntary (not all veterinarians are accredited).

Find a USDA-Accredited Veterinarian

If the destination country requires a USDA-endorsed (countersigned and embossed/stamped) health certificate, work with your accredited veterinarian to complete, sign, and date the health certificate. The accredited veterinarian should submit the certificate to the USDA Endorsement Office in the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS) on your behalf (option 1) or provide the paperwork to you to submit to the USDA Endorsement Office (option 2). You should use option 1 or option 2, but not both. 

Option 1: Use VEHCS to Submit the Health Certificate

Your accredited veterinarian can access VEHCS on your behalf. Your submission must include:

• International health certificate
• Vaccination certificates (if vaccination required by the destination country)
• Test results for laboratory tests (if required by the destination country)
• Import permit (if required by the destination country)
• Payment (See below for fees and how to submit payment)
• Pre-paid express shipping label if USDA APHIS’s digital endorsement is not accepted by the destination country (See below for more information)
  • Select Priority Delivery (or the fastest available delivery method) to ensure your package is trackable and arrives in a timely manner.

Option 2: Ship Your Health Certificate to USDA

Your submission must include:

• The ORIGINAL International health certificate
• Vaccination certificates (if vaccination required by the destination country)
• Test results for laboratory tests (if required by the destination country)
• Import permit (if required by the destination country)
• Payment (See below for fees and how to submit payment)
• Pre-paid express shipping label (see below for more information)
  • Include The Pet Owners Checklist for Shipping Health Certificate(s) to a USDA Endorsement Office to be sure you have all required paperwork in your shipping package.
  • Select Priority Delivery (or the fastest available delivery method) to ensure your package is trackable and arrives in a timely manner.

Give adequate time and proper planning for the endorsement of your health certificate. Incomplete submissions or incorrect information on the health certificates will cause endorsement delays until the USDA-accredited veterinarian or the owner/exporter of the animal can correct the problem.

Endorsement Fees

There are fees for USDA to endorse your health certificate. 

View the Cost to Endorse Your Pet's Health Certificate

Payment Options

Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS): For health certificates submitted in VEHCS, your USDA-accredited veterinarian must ensure that payment is provided by either depositing money in the VEHCS account or by providing a USDA APHIS User Fee Credit Account in the submission.

Shipping the Health Certificate to USDA: For health certificates submitted by express shipping, payment may be made by using the following acceptable methods:

• USDA APHIS User Fee Credit Account
• Check or Money Order (made payable to USDA)
• Credit or Debit Card: For payment of health certificates submitted by overnight shipping, please use the credit card information sheet (90 KB) to provide your credit or debit card information. 

Travelers: Please contact your accredited veterinarian if you have questions about the cost of the endorsement of a health certificate, payment method, or if the pet is traveling to multiple countries. 

Accredited Veterinarians: If you require assistance, please email your USDA Endorsement Office.

If your accredited veterinarian provides the signed health certificate to you to send to the USDA Endorsement Office, we strongly recommend sending the paperwork via overnight express service, such as FedEx or UPS, to minimize delays.

Please include the following in your package:

• A self-addressed pre-paid express return shipping label (see instructions below for preparing the shipping label). We will use the label to return your endorsed health certificate to you.
  • Select Priority Delivery (or the fastest available delivery method) to ensure your package is trackable and arrives in a timely manner.
• Be sure you include all original documents required by your destination country:
  • International Health Certificate
  • Vaccination certificates (if vaccinations are required by the destination country)
  • Test results for laboratory tests (if tests are required by the destination country)
  • Import permit (if a permit is required by the destination country)
• The Pet Owners Checklist for Shipping Health Certificate(s) to a USDA Endorsement Office (198.45 KB) so that we can contact you or your accredited veterinarian if we find a problem with your pet's health certificate. If you provide a phone number, make sure you're able to receive voicemails.
• The Credit Card Information Sheet (90 KB), if you are paying the endorsement fee by credit card. 

• Put YOUR name and address in both the TO and FROM section of the return label. The USDA address should not appear anywhere on your return label.
  • If you need to include an envelope size and weight on the label, use 12.5 x 9.5 inches and 1 pound in weight.
  • Your USDA Endorsement Office has shipping envelopes to return your paperwork.
• The return label must be pre-paid. We do not accept shipping labels with credit card numbers.
• Use a shipping service that provides a tracking number. It is your responsibility to keep a record of the tracking information.
• UPS Ground, FedEx Ground, or FedEx Home service do not pick up from our offices. Choosing this type of shipping service label may delay your package’s return to you by one business day.
• Select Priority Delivery (or the fastest available delivery method) to ensure your package is trackable and arrives in a timely manner.
• If you do not include a return label in your package, and we are unable to reach you to arrange for another method of return delivery, we will send your package to you via United States Postal Service First Class Mail.

Once the pet’s health certificate has been issued by a USDA Accredited Veterinarian and endorsed by USDA (when required), you must finish any outstanding requirements before you can travel with your pet.

• Some countries allow treatments to be completed after endorsement. For example, tapeworm treatment for dogs traveling to Finland, Ireland, Norway, UK and Malta.
• Some countries require consulate approval or pre-notification.
• Airlines may have different or additional requirements.  Check with your airline to determine what requirements they may have, if any.
• Be sure all the required paperwork is completed correctly, and the health certificate(s) are endorsed (if needed). The original signed or endorsed paperwork must accompany your pet during travel. Electronic versions of documents will not be accepted by officials of the destination country.

You are now ready to travel with your pet!

Visit Bring Your Pet into the U.S. From a Foreign Country to obtain detailed and important information for pets returning to the United States.