Taking a dog or cat to Europe: the paperwork, in order

Pet passport or animal health certificate? A plain-English summary of the European Commission's rules for travelling with dogs, cats and ferrets in 2026.

View full page

Pet passport or health certificate? It depends on where the animal lives, not on where the owner is from. A plain-English walk through the European Commission's rules for dogs, cats and ferrets.

By Traviology · Published 2026-11-04

A client who asks to bring the dog is a client who will remember whether you got the paperwork right. The rules are the European Commission's, they were rewritten this year, and most of the confusion comes down to one question.

Where does the pet live?

Residence decides which route applies. The Commission's FAQ is blunt about it: if the owner lives outside the EU, an EU pet passport can't be used to bring the animal in, even if the owner has a house in an EU country. Residence is what matters, not nationality or property.

Great Britain is the case agents hit most. An EU pet passport issued to a Great Britain resident hasn't been valid for travel from Great Britain to the EU since 31 December 2020. They need an animal health certificate for each entry.

Pets that live in the EU

For travel between EU countries, a dog, cat or ferret needs a microchip, a rabies vaccination and a passport filled in by an authorised vet. The microchip has to go in first. The vaccine can only be given when the animal is at least 12 weeks old, and it counts as valid from 21 days after the primary course is finished.

Dogs have one extra step if the trip includes Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland or Norway. A vet must give a tapeworm treatment between 24 and 120 hours before entry and record it in the passport. Cats and ferrets are exempt.

Pets coming in from outside

Here the paperwork gets heavier. The pet needs the microchip and rabies vaccination, plus an animal health certificate from an official vet in the departure country. The certificate is valid for 10 days for entry. After the entry checks it can cover onward travel inside the EU for up to six months, or until the rabies vaccination expires, if that comes first.

Most non-EU countries also need a rabies antibody test. The blood sample has to be taken at least 30 days after the primary vaccination and at least 90 days before the certificate is issued, and the result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml from a designated laboratory. The Commission keeps a list of countries where the test isn't needed, and a 2026 amendment added Montenegro and Serbia to it.

By our reading of those numbers, a pet being vaccinated for the first time needs roughly four months before a certificate can be issued. Ask the vet to confirm the calendar, because we're agents, not vets.

The animal also has to come in through a travellers' point of entry designated by the destination country.

The practical bits

• Up to five animals can travel as pets in one vehicle.

• A dog in the hold can still count as a non-commercial movement if the owner is on the same flight and responsible for it.

• If someone else brings the pet, the owner must travel within five days before or after, and a written authorisation must go with the passport.

• If your client is only changing planes in the EU and the pet stays in the transit area, EU entry rules don't apply. If it leaves that area, even by accident, they do.

What we didn't check

Airline pet policies differ from the EU rules and we haven't read any. We also haven't looked at national rules for the UK, Switzerland or non-European countries, or at rabbits, birds and other species. For rabbits the Commission says there are no harmonised EU rules and points you to the destination country.

Some older passports stay valid for a while: those issued under the old rules before 22 April 2026, and old-model passports issued before 1 January 2028 under the transitional rules. Old-style health certificates issued before 1 October 2026 were only good for entry for 10 days, so a client holding one now needs a new certificate. If a client is holding any older document, send them back to the vet before you reassure them.

Sources

• Travelling with a pet within the EU (European Commission, Food Safety)

• Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country (European Commission, Food Safety)

• FAQs on dogs, cats and ferrets (European Commission, Food Safety)

Checked October 2026. Not veterinary or legal advice. The rules changed in 2026 and transitional arrangements apply.