International travel

You’re moving to Germany (or Argentina, or Philippines), and of course you want to take your beloved pets with you!

Are you prepared for the requirements of your destination country? In addition to your own concerns — about your pets’ well-being — there are also government requirements regarding international pet movement, overseen by both US agencies (USDA-APHIS) & your destination country’s own government.

Start Here:

The very first step is to familiarize yourself with your destination country’s pet-import requirements, via the USDA Pet Travel Website (click above). Some countries are fairly straightforward and only require current Rabies vaccination documents (*as defined by their country’s standards, which can vary from US standards!) and/or microchip; but others also require import permits, pre-shipment blood tests, and/or vaccinations not commonly administered in Alaska.

The ultimate responsibility for having all the necessary documents and permits falls to you, their owner. Anchorage Pet Travel Certificates can help point you in the right direction, but we are not a concierge service which coordinates all necessary documents; our clinic only sees your pet for the final appointment before they leave the US, & submits their travel certificate for USDA-endorsement.

(If this gets to be too much for you, or you’re nervous about it, we strongly recommend using a Pet-Relocation service which will help you be certain you’ve ticked every box in the process.)

Most common obstacles to successful International Pet Travel:

  • Starting the process too late

  • Being unfamiliar with the scope of destination country’s requirements

  • No microchip in-place, or not recorded on pet’s vaccination documents

As of September 1, 2023:

All international certificates will be processed via the USDA hub in Tumwater, Washington, which handles ten US states’ document-processing. Like any other large federal organization, they can be difficult to reach or to receive answers to queries. (The days of a small Mom-and-Pop shop — our local USDA office in Palmer — are over, I’m afraid.)

This from a recent email from their office:

“Please note- due to nation wide staffing shortages we are not always able to complete an initial review of certificates prior to their shipdate. We are working diligently to endorse and ship certificates 2-3 business days before the travel date, given that certificates are submitted in advanced. We are not always able to accommodate last minute submissions.”

The USDA requires a minimum of 72 hours processing time, plus time to FedEx the endorsed document back to you. They do not work weekends or federal holidays. — And usually the certificate & exam must be done no more than 10 days before travel.

As you can see, this can make for a very strict & narrow timeline.

  • Unfortunately, no. You will need to contact your regular vet, or a full-service vet clinic or Urgent Care, to help get your pet’s laboratory tests completed.

  • A Rabies-titer test (commonly called FAVN) can only be run through a few official labs in the US, and their turnaround time varies between 4-8 weeks from the time they receive the sample.

  • Again, unfortunately, no. We can try to help you figure out what you’re missing and to correct the document (for example, an incomplete Rabies certificate), but that’s the best we can offer.

  • Maybe. You’d need to discuss it with your military vet on-base, as the work-arounds (such as home-quarantine) for military personnel are best handled by their office.

Plan Ahead!

Plan Ahead!