What is a Pet Passport?

Pet passport is used between member states of the European Union. It is used for dogs, cats and ferrets traveling or relocating with their owners to another EU country.

This is a veterinary document which contains details of the pet owner and the animal, including its microchip or identification details and vaccination records. Most importantly it provides a proof that your pet has been vaccinated against rabies. With this document your pet can enter any EU country with no need for quarantine.

Watch this video and see how easy and fun it is to travel or relocate with your pet:

What a great relief for many pet owners - It makes pet shipping much easier, As there is one single system that applies for all EU countries (with some temporary exceptions for the UK, Ireland, Malta and Sweden).

However - Since the entry requirements may vary from one country to another, you should obtain information about the EU country to which you are relocating with your pet from a travel agency, or from the country’s embassy.

The national authorities in every EU country are responsible for issuing the passport to the vets. Therefore you must contact a veterinarian in your home country in order to obtain one.

Your pet should be vaccinated against rabies, and the passport should indicate that a valid rabies vaccination was given by a vet.

In addition, your pet should be connected to the pet passport via an electronic microchip. Therefore a veterinarian should insert a pet microchip implant into the area of the pets shoulder. The pet microchip contains numbers. The immigration officers will scan the pet microchip in order to compare it to the details on the passport.

Some EU countries will accept a clearly readable tattoo instead of pet microchips (The tattoo will only be accepted as a means of identification until 3 July 2011).

The EU pet passport has been designed to last the lifetime of the animal. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that the rabies vaccination in the passport is valid, or renew the pet's vaccination.

In principle the pet passport is only used for pets traveling between Member States of the European Union.

However, you can also use the passport if you are:

• Traveling to or from one of the neighboring countries where the rabies status matches that of the EU. This includes: Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City State.
• Traveling/relocating to or from the following non-continental EU territories: Greenland and the Faroe Islands (Danish passport), French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion (French passport), Canary Islands (Spanish passport), Azores and Madeira (Portuguese passport), Gibraltar (specific Gibraltar passport, not UK passport).
• A non-EU citizen who is living in the EU with your pet for several years. You can get a passport to use within the EU during this time.
• An EU citizen that temporarily stayed with your pet in a third country. You and your pet can return to the EU country accompanied by a pet passport, notwithstanding the fact that the animal must be in conformity with the rules that apply to entries from the country where it stayed.

• You come from a country with a favorable situation regarding rabies and animal health
• You come from a country that rabies may be endemic among domestic pets in your country. In this case, your pet must be vaccinated and tested three months before entering all EU countries except for Ireland, Sweden, Malta and the UK, where quarantine will be required.

To find out to which category your country belongs and for more details regarding the health certificate requirements please visit the European Union website.