Taking a pet to Europe
The EU pet health certificate, and the order you have to do things in.
The European Union is a single bloc for pets. One process gets a US dog or cat into any of the twenty-seven member countries, from Germany to Portugal, and it is not hard once you see it. The catch is sequence: the microchip has to come before the rabies shot, and the certificate runs on a tight 10-day clock. Get the order wrong and you can lose weeks. Here is the process, the official pages for it, and the mistakes that cost people the most time.
For a US-origin pet, the EU asks for an ISO microchip, then a rabies vaccination given after the chip, then an EU Animal Health Certificate filled in by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by USDA APHIS. The pet must reach the EU within 10 days of that endorsement. There is no rabies titer and no quarantine for a pet coming straight from the US. The single most expensive mistake is vaccinating before microchipping, which makes the shot invalid.
Three things that surprise people
Read these before you book the vet.
The steps are simple, but three of them are counterintuitive, and those are the ones that reset timelines and budgets.
Microchip, then rabies
The chip must go in before the rabies shot, and the vet should scan it first and record the number on the vaccination record. A rabies shot given before the chip does not count for the EU, so you redo it and wait again.
The Pet Passport is not yours
The blue EU Pet Passport is for pets that already live in the EU. A pet arriving from the US travels on the EU Animal Health Certificate instead. This is the single biggest point of confusion for Americans.
A 10-day window
Once APHIS endorses the certificate, the pet has to enter the EU within 10 days. That means the endorsement is one of the last things you do, not one of the first, and it has to line up with your flight.
The sequence
The order, step by step.
Every US-origin pet follows the same path into the EU. The steps are not complicated on their own; the value is in doing them in the right order and leaving room for the waiting period.
- Microchip first. The pet needs an ISO 11784 or 11785 compliant microchip. If a chip was implanted earlier but is not ISO compliant, you can bring your own scanner or have a compliant chip added.
- Rabies vaccination after the chip. The vet scans the chip, then gives the rabies shot. A first-ever rabies shot means a 21-day wait before the pet may travel. A booster given while a previous shot is still valid has no wait, as long as the record is unbroken.
- The EU Animal Health Certificate. A USDA-accredited veterinarian completes it, close to travel, and it must then be endorsed by USDA APHIS.
- APHIS endorsement, then fly within 10 days. Once endorsed, the certificate is valid for entry into the EU for 10 days, then for onward travel inside the EU for four months, or until the rabies vaccination lapses, whichever comes first.
There is no rabies antibody titer and no quarantine for a pet coming directly from the US. A titer is only needed if the pet has been in certain other countries first. The owner also signs a declaration on the last page of the certificate that the move is not a commercial sale.
What it costs to endorse
The APHIS endorsement fee, by number of tests.
The vet visit and vaccines are billed by your veterinarian and vary widely. The one fee we can pin down is what USDA APHIS charges to endorse the certificate. It is set by how many laboratory tests the certificate requires, and for a straight US-to-EU trip that is usually none.
Service dogs covered by the ADA and active-duty military working dogs are exempt from the endorsement fee. Emotional support animals are not exempt. There is an added charge for each additional pet on the same trip, and the fee is not refundable. APHIS strongly prefers the electronic route through its VEHCS system. Fees confirmed against the APHIS page in July 2026.
See the current fees at USDA APHIS we earn nothing
The tapeworm exception
Four places add a dog tapeworm treatment.
Most of the EU is one identical process, but a short list of rabies-free destinations adds one step for dogs, not cats. If your dog is entering Ireland, Finland or Malta, or Norway, which sits outside the EU but follows the same rule, a vet must give an approved tapeworm treatment for echinococcus and record it 24 to 120 hours before the dog arrives, that is between one and five days out. The same applies to Northern Ireland.
This is a timing rule as much as a medical one. The treatment has to fall inside that window, so it usually happens at a final vet visit right before travel, and the times go on the certificate. Cats are not covered by it.
USDA APHIS on the tapeworm countries we earn nothing
Country by country
Which EU country you are moving to barely matters.
Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands are the places Americans move to most often with a pet, and for a US-origin pet the process is the same for all of them: chip, rabies in the right order, the EU Animal Health Certificate, APHIS endorsement, and the 10-day window. There is no separate national permit to chase.
That is why we do not keep a page per EU country for pets. The differences that exist are small and sit inside the framework above. If you are heading to Portugal, our Portugal guide already covers the money side of a longer stay. For any EU country, the certificate is the document, and the destination's own agriculture ministry is the final word on the day.
The certificate format changes on 1 October 2026.
The EU updated its pet movement framework in April 2026. The health steps above, chip then rabies then certificate, are unchanged, but the certificate form itself is being replaced: the current non-commercial format can be endorsed only through 30 September 2026, and the new format is required from 1 October 2026. Your USDA-accredited vet will use the correct form for your travel date, but if you are reading old guidance elsewhere, this is the part that has moved. Confirm on the USDA APHIS and European Commission pages before you travel. Checked July 2026.
More on traveling with a pet
Sources, and how this page was checked
Last checkedJul 2026
Changed since last checkFirst published in July 2026, covering the EU Animal Health Certificate for a US-origin pet: the microchip-then-rabies sequence, the 21-day wait after a first rabies shot, the certificate and its 10-day entry window, the current APHIS endorsement fees of $101, $160 and $206 by number of tests, the point that the EU Pet Passport is for EU residents, and the dog tapeworm rule for Ireland, Finland, Malta and Norway. Notes the EU framework update of April 2026 and the certificate format change taking effect 1 October 2026.
- USDA APHIS, pet travel from the US to the European Unionthe steps a US-origin pet takes to enter any EU country, the microchip and rabies sequence, and the health certificate
- USDA APHIS, cost to endorse your pet's health certificatethe current endorsement fees by number of lab tests, and who is exempt
- USDA APHIS, Finland, Malta and Ireland, including Northern Irelandthe dog tapeworm treatment those countries require, and the timing window for it
- European Commission, movement of pets into the EUthe EU side of the rules, the harmonized framework, and why the EU Pet Passport is for EU residents
Our own readThe framework is set by the EU and administered on the US side by APHIS, not by us. It is stable in substance but the paperwork is changing format in late 2026, so we point you to the official pages and date this page clearly. Vet and vaccine costs vary, so treat any figure here as a starting point and confirm on the source.
Now the money and the timeline.
The certificate is the paperwork. What decides a pet trip in practice is the lead time and the all-in cost, and those depend on your pet, your route, and whether it flies in the cabin or as cargo. That is what the overview and the country guides are for.
See traveling with a pet