Bringing your dog or cat to Taiwan.

Unlike Hong Kong, Taiwan requires a rabies neutralizing antibody titer test (RNATT), and that test is what sets your lead time. The steps, in order: your pet must be at least 90 days old, implanted with an ISO microchip, and given a rabies vaccination (a booster at least 30 days before shipment, and no more than a year before). Then a blood sample is drawn for the RNATT, which must show a titer of at least 0.5 IU/ml and be taken no less than 90 days and no more than one year before shipment, at a designated laboratory.

The US designated labs are the Kansas State University Rabies Laboratory, the Department of Defense laboratory in Texas, Auburn University, and the University of Missouri veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Because the blood draw has to sit inside that window before travel, it is usually the step that decides the earliest date your pet can arrive, so plan backward from it. Confirm the exact current timing on the official pages, since these windows are precise and have been adjusted.

Taiwan requires an import permit and a reservation of post-entry quarantine space, applied for through APHIA (Taiwan's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency) before shipment, submitting the rabies vaccination certificate, the RNATT result, and your identification. Apply well ahead, and note that Taiwan revised its import quarantine permit on 5 January 2026, with 2026 treated as a transition period where both the old and new versions applied, so confirm you are using the current form.

Here is the improvement that matters for US owners: APHIA now states that detention in post-entry quarantine premises may be waived for a dog or cat that meets the defined rabies-test timing and submission criteria. In practice that means a fully compliant US pet can be released rather than held in a facility, which is what turns Taiwan from a quarantine destination into a manageable one. The waiver is conditional on getting the titer and paperwork exactly right, so precision is what buys you the release.

If something in your paperwork slips and your pet is held, no insurance product covers that boarding bill. Not pet health insurance, not travel insurance with a pet add-on, not a shipper's protection plan. Nationwide is the one US pet insurer that reimburses vet care at any licensed vet worldwide, and even it excludes boarding, which is what quarantine is. The cheapest insurance here is getting the documents right.

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 hard rule to check first: Taiwan bans the import and breeding of Pit Bull Terriers, in force since 2022. If your dog is or resembles that type, confirm the position before you spend on anything else, because this is a barrier, not a formality. Budget several thousand dollars all in, with air transport as the largest line, plus the titer test, the permit, and the vet work.

The return leg is easy. A dog flying home to the US from Taiwan 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. See our guide to bringing a dog into the US, and traveling with a pet for how Taiwan compares with other destinations.

Common questions

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More on Taiwan

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Tipping in TaiwanTaiwan is not a tipping country. At everyday restaurants, night markets and in taxis, no tip is expected. The main exception is a 10% service charge at upscale places. Here is what you actually owe.
• Do I need cash in Taiwan, or can I use cards?Short answer: carry cash. Taiwan is more cash-reliant than most visitors expect for a high-tech place, so keep NT dollars and pick up an EasyCard for transit. Here is how to handle it.