Bringing a dog, cat or ferret into the EU from outside

TL;DR

Your pet must travel with you or a person you authorise, up to 5 per vehicle, with a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination, usually a rabies antibody test, and an EU animal health certificate. Dogs going to Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland or Norway also need tapeworm treatment. You enter through a designated travellers' point of entry.¹²

Which journeys do these rules cover?

The conditions, set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131, cover non-commercial travel with a pet dog, cat or ferret: journeys that involve no sale and no change of owner.¹

The pet must travel with its owner and under the owner's direct responsibility. No more than 5 pets may be moved for non-commercial purposes in a single vehicle.¹

If you cannot travel at the same time, a person you authorise in writing may take the pet, as long as your own journey is within 5 days of the pet's.¹² More than 5 pets are allowed only for competitions, exhibitions or sporting events, or training for them, with written proof of registration, and only for animals more than six months old.¹

Pets that travel outside these conditions, for example unaccompanied, must meet the EU's animal health rules for imports instead.¹²

What does the pet need before it travels?

A microchip. The pet must be identified with an implanted microchip. A clearly readable tattoo is also accepted if it was applied before 3 July 2011.¹
Good health. The pet must be healthy and fit to travel.¹
A rabies vaccination. Given by an official or authorised vet when the pet was at least 12 weeks old, and not before the microchip was implanted or read. The vaccination becomes valid at least 21 days after the primary course is completed, and any booster must be given while the previous vaccination is still valid.¹
A rabies antibody test, in most cases. An authorised vet takes the blood sample at least 30 days after the primary vaccination, or within a current valid vaccination series, and at least 90 days before the animal health certificate is issued.¹
Tapeworm treatment, for dogs only, when entering Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland or Norway. A vet must give an approved treatment against Echinococcus multilocularis not more than 120 hours and not less than 24 hours before the scheduled entry, and record it on the certificate.¹

The antibody test must be done at a designated laboratory and must show a level of antibodies equal to or greater than 0,5 IU/ml.¹ A copy of the laboratory's official report goes with the animal health certificate. The test does not have to be repeated if the pet is revaccinated within the validity of its previous vaccination.¹

The test is not required for pets coming from the countries and territories listed in Annexes I and II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/636. Annex II was amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1228 to add Montenegro and Serbia.¹ Your Europe has a tool that shows whether the test applies to the country you are travelling from.²

What paperwork goes with the pet?

An EU animal health certificate, completed by an official or authorised vet and endorsed by the competent authority. It confirms the pet is fit to travel and records its microchip or tattoo code, rabies vaccination, blood sample and, where needed, tapeworm treatment.¹

10 days to reach the border checks. The certificate is valid for 10 days from issue until the documentary and identity checks at the point of entry. For a journey by sea, the 10 days are extended by the length of the sea journey.¹
Up to 6 months inside the EU. For onward travel to other EU countries, it is valid from the date of those checks for 6 months in total, or until the rabies vaccination expires, whichever comes first.¹
A written declaration by the owner or the authorised person that the journey is non-commercial.¹²

Certificates drawn up on the older model, under Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) 577/2013, remain valid for bringing a pet into the EU if they were issued before 1 October 2026.¹

A pet may instead travel with a pet passport issued in a country or territory listed in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/636, if the passport certifies that it meets these conditions.¹

Can a visitor get an EU pet passport?

No. The European pet passport is issued only to pet owners who are resident in the EU. Travelling from a non-EU country, your pet needs the EU animal health certificate instead.²

If you travel to an EU country or Northern Ireland from Andorra, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino or Vatican City State, your pet can also enter with a pet passport issued there.²

An EU pet passport issued to an owner resident in Great Britain is no longer valid for travel with pets from Great Britain to the EU.¹²

Where do you enter, and what happens at the border?

The pet must pass through a travellers' point of entry designated by each EU country. When you arrive, you contact the competent authority there for the document and identity checks.¹ The Commission publishes the list of travellers' points of entry from its page on these rules.¹

Pets coming from a country or territory listed in Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/636 do not have to pass through a travellers' point of entry.¹

If a pet fails the checks, Your Europe says it may be returned to the country of departure or placed in quarantine until it meets the rules; if neither is possible, it may be euthanised.²

This is not legal advice. Check the current rules with the official authority before you travel.

What this page cannot tell you

Two Commission pages, one newer. Your Europe (last checked by the Commission on 1 September 2026) summarises the rules; DG Health and Food Safety's page sets them out with references to the 2026 regulations, so we follow it where the wording differs.²¹
We do not reproduce the exempt-country lists. Check Annexes I and II to Regulation (EU) 2026/636, or Your Europe's country tool, for the country you are leaving.
Only dogs, cats and ferrets. For other pets, Your Europe says to check the national rules of the country you are visiting.²
Not veterinary advice. We describe the legal conditions; your vet and the official authorities handle the procedures.

Key takeaways

A non-EU visitor's pet needs a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination, usually an antibody test, and an EU animal health certificate.
The antibody test sample is taken at least 30 days after the primary vaccination and at least 90 days before the certificate is issued, unless your departure country is exempt.
Dogs heading for Finland, Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland or Norway need tapeworm treatment from a vet 24 to 120 hours before entry.
What we would skip: counting on getting an EU pet passport if you live outside the EU; Your Europe says it is issued only to owners resident in the EU.

Sources

The conditions come from the European Commission's Health and Food Safety page on bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country, which cites the 2026 regulations; the passport and border points come from Your Europe (last checked 1 September 2026). Both were read on 5 October 2026. See how we research.

European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country. Read it. Accessed 5 October 2026. © European Union, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we summarised it.
European Commission, Your Europe, Travelling with pets and other animals in the EU (page last checked by the Commission 1 September 2026). Read it. Accessed 5 October 2026. © European Union, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we summarised it.

Changes made. We summarised the Commission pages (CC BY 4.0) in our own words, preferring the Health and Food Safety page where the two differ, and quoted the antibody threshold exactly as written. We name no vet, carrier or pet-transport company. Not legal or veterinary advice.

What does a dog, cat or ferret need to enter the EU from a non-EU country?