Bringing your dog or cat to Portugal.

There is no Portugal-only pet permit and no national quarantine. Bringing a dog or cat into Portugal from the US is the standard EU move: an ISO microchip first, a rabies vaccination after the chip, then an EU Animal Health Certificate completed by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by APHIS, with the pet arriving within 10 days of endorsement. A first rabies shot adds a 21-day wait before travel.

Because the core process is identical across the EU (and the countries that follow its rules), we do not repeat it per country. The full sequence, the microchip-before-rabies trap that costs people the most time, the 10-day clock, and the current APHIS endorsement fees all live on the EU pet health certificate page. Read that first, then come back for the Portugal notes.

At the border, Portuguese customs may ask to see the endorsed certificate and confirm the microchip, and pets should enter through a designated traveller point of entry, which Lisbon airport is. There is no dog or cat tapeworm rule for Portugal, unlike Ireland, Finland or Malta.

After you settle in, Portugal requires dogs to be microchipped and registered in the national SIAC database, handled by a local vet, and licensed at the local parish (junta de freguesia). Portugal also classes certain breeds as potentially dangerous, requiring the owner to hold a licence, take out liability insurance, and muzzle and leash the dog in public. If your dog may fall in that category, check the requirement before you travel.

No insurance product reimburses quarantine boarding anywhere, so if you later move on to a destination that requires it, budget that as an out-of-pocket cost. Nationwide is the one US pet insurer that reimburses vet care at any licensed vet worldwide, and even it excludes boarding.

US pet insurance is written around a pet that lives in the US. Most policies carry a policy territory, typically the US and sometimes Canada or Puerto Rico, and even the ones that reimburse vet care worldwide generally require your primary residence to stay in the US. So a policy may well pay a vet bill on a trip abroad and still lapse the day the move becomes permanent. Read your own policy's territory and residency wording before you assume it travels with you, and for a permanent move plan on taking out local pet insurance in your new country.

As a rough sanity check on any quote, and this is our read of current market pricing rather than an official figure: a standard international pet move tends to run about $1,500 to $6,000. Full-service door-to-door typically costs 30 to 50 percent more than a transport-only booking where you handle the vet work and paperwork yourself.

The costs people forget are the small ones. USDA APHIS charges a user fee to endorse an export health certificate, currently $101 where no test verification is needed, $160 for a certificate covering one or two tests, and $206 for three to six tests, with rabies vaccination not counted in that tally. These rates rose on 10 January 2025, the first APHIS fee adjustment since 2012. Add an airline-compliant crate (roughly $50 to $400), the travel vet visits themselves, boarding on a layover, and summer heat surcharges.

Pet shipping attracts scammers, so verify any company before you send money. IPATA, the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association, is a trade association: its members ship under their own company names, IPATA itself does not ship pets, and there is no legitimate shipper with "ipata" in its name. Scammers clone real shippers' sites, logos and testimonials, so check the company in the member directory at ipata.org rather than trusting a logo on a website. Treat these as red flags: a quote dramatically below every other quote, a domain registered less than six months ago, email coming from a gmail address rather than the company domain, and any request to pay by Western Union or MoneyGram.

One dated note for EU moves: the EU's pet travel rules were remade by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131, which applies from 22 April 2026, with the new certificate models set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/705. On the US side, APHIS is switching to the new non-commercial certificate on 1 October 2026 and can endorse the current one up to 30 September 2026. We cover the detail on the EU pet health certificate page.

Good news for the return trip: a dog flying home to the US from Portugal is on the simplest CDC path, typically a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, a microchip, a minimum age of 6 months, and a healthy appearance, with no titer and no quarantine. Cats have no federal requirement.

For the wider picture, including how Portugal compares with other destinations on lead time and cost, see traveling with a pet.

If you are taking a pet to Portugal for a trip rather than moving for good, the expensive surprise is a vet bill abroad. Faye sells travel insurance with an optional pet add-on that covers veterinary fees for a pet travelling with you, plus some kennel costs if your own return is delayed. Be clear on what it is not: it is a travel policy, so it does not cover a permanent relocation, loss or injury during pet shipping, or quarantine fees. Nothing on the market covers mandatory quarantine.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Portugal

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Taxis in Portugal, and the Bolt appPortuguese taxis are cheap and mostly honest, and ride apps are even cheaper, with Bolt the local favorite. The main thing to watch is the odd airport driver, so here is how to keep it simple.
• Do I need cash in Portugal, or can I use cards?Short answer: a card for most things, a little euro cash for the rest. Portugal is card-friendly, especially in Lisbon and Porto, but small shops, markets and rural spots still like cash. Here is how to handle it.
• Tipping in PortugalPortugal is a light-tipping country. Staff earn a wage, nobody expects a US-style percentage, and a modest tip for good service is welcome but never required. Here is what you actually owe, and what that couvert on the table is.
• How to avoid the yellow Euronet ATMs in LisbonThe bright yellow machines by the airport exits and in the tourist squares are the most expensive way to get euros. Here is how to spot them, what to use instead, and the one habit that matters more than the machine.
• The IVA tax-refund kiosk at Lisbon airport, step by stepIf you shopped in Portugal and want the IVA (VAT) back, it comes down to a self-service kiosk at the airport and one green screen. Here is the exact sequence, and the one timing mistake that costs people the refund.
• Does tram 28 in Lisbon take contactless?The short, honest answer is: not reliably. Tapping your own card is solid on the metro, but on the historic 28 tram it is hit or miss, so here is the cheap way that always works.