Dog & Cats from US to UK 2018

We cant thank UKY enough for all the help with our visa application... our area of expertise seems to be moving a pet so we are giving back here.. please let us know if anything needs correcting....

After some rather exhaustive research we have discovered there are three ways to transport your Dog or Cat to the UK. Required forms and shots are discussed also.

GETTING THERE___________________________

FLY DIRECT TO THE UK WITH PET IN CRATE.

Firstly understand, that if you fly into Great Britain your dog or cat MUST be in a crate in the hold of the plane unless they are a true service dog. The airlines are getting very strict about "emotional service animals" in the cabin.
This way you fly on the same plane as your pet but they are in an appropriate size crate in the hold. There are no restrictions on the size of the pet so for large dogs or cats this is perhaps the main option.  If your pet is crate trained no problem. Be aware that you must check your pet in several hours before the flight from the USA and go thru processing at the UK end so it will be in the crate for an extended period.

http://www.virginatlantic.com/us/en/travel-information/special-flight-requirements/flying-with-pets.html

FLY TO FRANCE WITH PET IN CABIN

If your dog or cat meets specific weight requirements, (17 pounds at the time of this writing including the carrier) you can fly economy only on Air France to Charles De Gaulle with the pet in cabin. Obviously one would then need to get to the UK. One way car rentals are not an option, and taking the pet on a train in the Eurotunnel in not allowed. The best option we found was the Pet Moves service from Paris to Folkstone or London. Border control will stamp your visa upon entry into the UK from France. (We are taking Pet Moves in Feb 2018 so look for a review.)

http://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common/guidevoyageur/pratique/animal_cabine_airfrance.htm

http://www.pet-moves.com/

SAIL THE QUEEN MARY FROM NYC TO SOUTH HAMPTON

This IS how many dog and cats get into the UK. However this is probably not viable option for anyone applying for any sort of a visa to enter the UK. As far as I know once you receive your visa you must travel within 30 days and the kennel on the QM2 is usually booked very far in advance. Working out the timing on this would seem almost impossible. Also, when we inquired the fennel was booked one year in advance. But not everyone here is getting a visa and some might just be looking for a way to get their pet to the UK so this is an option. The pets do have to be crated but you can visit them several times a day and there is a lounge and walking
area.

http://www.cunard.com/frequent-questions/

RELOCATION SERVICE

There are of course numerous pet relocation businesses but because of cost and being separated from our pet we did not look into any of these services.

_________________________________________________ ______

THE SHOTS AND THE PAPERWORK

First off a link to the official UK government website that explains what they want you to do.

https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad

From the USA we are required to provide upon entry a “Third Country Official Veterinary Certificate.” Your pet must arrive in an EU country within 10 days of the certificate being issued from a USDA certified veterinarian. AND if your pet is a dog between 1 and 5 days after being treated for tapeworm. After your veterinarian signs and stamps this document you must then get it certified by your states APHIS office.
 
If you go the route of France, so you can travel with your small pet in cabin as mentioned above, then the dual language English/French “Health Certificate” is the only form you will need. (Hopefully “Brexit” will not change this but as of this writing the UK is still EU.)

The USDA has laid out all the steps for getting your pet ready on the USA side.

To UK:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/eu/eu-echinococcus/pet-travel-echinococcus-treatments-uk

A link to the page for the health certificates required for travel to the UK:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/eu/eu-echinococcus/health-certificates-eu-with-dogs-uk

A link to the page for the dual language English French version required for travel for France then on to UK (Just one form used for entry in both countries):
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/eu/eu-health-certificates/france-health-certs



A brief rundown of the steps are…

1-Get your pet microchipped with an international ISO chip.

2- Pet must be vaccinated for rabies. This is VERY detailed. Read it.

3-Pet must wait 21 days AFTER the rabies vaccination to enter UK.

4-Have a USDA accredited vet complete and sign the EU certificate.

5-Dogs must be treated by an accredited vet for tapeworm between 1 and 5 days before entry into UK so do this when they complete the form and FEDEX or hand deliver if possible that day to local APHIS office. This is a VERY narrow window for entry so think about your timing on plane tickets!!!

6-Have your local state APHIS office sign the EU certificate.

After we had our animals microchipped, and then had them vaccinated against rabies, we had to have a blood test done in an approved laboratory, and then we had to wait for a number of months until they could come into the UK. 

I would check if they can come into the UK after 21 days.  This is what the UK Website states:

Your pet must have a blood sample taken at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination.

Your vet must send the blood sample to an EU-approved blood testing laboratory from either inside the EU or outside the EU.

You must wait 3 months from the date the blood sample was taken before you travel - you don’t need to wait if your pet was vaccinated, blood tested and given a pet passport in the EU before travelling to an unlisted country.

The vet must give you a copy of the test results and enter the day the blood sample was taken in a third-country official veterinary certificate.

I did write this post with a lean toward coming from the US which is a "LISTED" country and does not require the extra blood test.

The blood test for rabies is only needed if you are traveling from an "UNLISTED" country, so a country that is NOT in the EU or NOT one of the countries below. So if you are traveling from a country NOT below you need the blood test.

Andorra, Azores and Madeira, Canary Islands,French Guiana,Gibraltar,Greenland and the Faroe Islands,Guadeloupe, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Martinique, Monaco, Norway, Reunion, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican City

Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Ascension Island, Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Bermuda, BES Islands (Bonair, Saint Eustatius and Saba), Bosnia-Herzegovina, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Curaçao, Falkland Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Montserrat, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Saint Maarten, Singapore, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Taiwan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, USA (includes American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US virgin Islands), Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.

https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad

nwkh, thank you for taking the time to post this. 
It’s always great to have up to date information and I’m sure it’ll be useful to many of our members. 

Thanks for the update.  So important to get it right when travelling with animals.  Thanks for the post.

We do hope it helps. We are traveling the end of next week and doing Air France to Paris so we can take our beloved pooch in cabin. Once in Paris we have a reservation on the Pet Moves service to take us on to Folkstone. Fingers crossed it all goes smooth. Will let everyone know what we think of the Pet Moves service once we are settled in. So far he has been pretty good to deal with in terms of setting it all up.

Cheers

Safe journey. 

Quick thing that ended up being super helpful in setting up my dogs mom (we are doing that right now). You can actually have the dog treated for tapeworm after getting the certificate certified.

I am a hyper paranoid dog mama and am getting certifications from the Albany office via FedEx and the JFK office in person. They accept appointments within 5 days of travel.


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Quick thing that ended up being super helpful in setting up my dogs mom (we are doing that right now). You can actually have the dog treated for tapeworm after getting the certificate certified.

I am a hyper paranoid dog mama and am getting certifications from the Albany office via FedEx and the JFK office in person. They accept appointments within 5 days of travel.


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Yeah, I thought that the tapeworm treatment didn't have to have an additional certification. Am I wrong in thinking it's microchip, rabies 21 days prior, APHIS certification only available 10 days before flight, then tapeworm between 5-24 hours before hand?

My dog truly is an emotional support animal, so this should be an interesting process for me.

Yeah, I thought that the tapeworm treatment didn't have to have an additional certification. Am I wrong in thinking it's microchip, rabies 21 days prior, APHIS certification only available 10 days before flight, then tapeworm between 5-24 hours before hand?

My dog truly is an emotional support animal, so this should be an interesting process for me.

Almost perfect. The rabies only has to be redone if your dog wasn’t microchipped before. Otherwise, as long as the rabies vaccine is valid, you are fine. Also fine if your dog is on a rabies booster provided there is no lapse in coverage.

I would also triple check which ISO your dogs microchip is. It needs to be ISO 14/15. A lot of the US older ones are only 10 digits. In that case you can either get your dog remicrochipped or bring your own reader to the border.

If you know which brand you have I am happy to help you check.


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Almost perfect. The rabies only has to be redone if your dog wasn’t microchipped before. Otherwise, as long as the rabies vaccine is valid, you are fine. Also fine if your dog is on a rabies booster provided there is no lapse in coverage.

I would also triple check which ISO your dogs microchip is. It needs to be ISO 14/15. A lot of the US older ones are only 10 digits. In that case you can either get your dog remicrochipped or bring your own reader to the border.

If you know which brand you have I am happy to help you check.


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If an older chip, you can call the ARC that your animal will be arriving at to see if they have a reader.

I think they have a LOT of readers.  A lot of people buy them thinking they won't have the right one and then leave them behind because they won't need it.  I remember the guy at ARC at Gatwick saying there couldn't possibly be a chip they couldn't read!   

If an older chip, you can call the ARC that your animal will be arriving at to see if they have a reader.

I think they have a LOT of readers.  A lot of people buy them thinking they won't have the right one and then leave them behind because they won't need it.  I remember the guy at ARC at Gatwick saying there couldn't possibly be a chip they couldn't read!   

I agree! I brought a borrowed reader for an old 9 digit chip but even 5 years ago they didn't need it.

Almost perfect. The rabies only has to be redone if your dog wasn’t microchipped before. Otherwise, as long as the rabies vaccine is valid, you are fine. Also fine if your dog is on a rabies booster provided there is no lapse in coverage.

I would also triple check which ISO your dogs microchip is. It needs to be ISO 14/15. A lot of the US older ones are only 10 digits. In that case you can either get your dog remicrochipped or bring your own reader to the border.

If you know which brand you have I am happy to help you check.


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The husband and I were originally planning for me to move over in 2017, but things got pushed back a bit, so at our vet appointment in Jan. 2017, we just did a year rabies shot rather than the three year. This year at our annual appointment, we did indeed have to get a new microchip as the one that he has is a North American one and only 10 digits. I had the ARC website and the USDA website pulled up so that we could check the ISO rating on the microchip before we put it in. We have the correct microchip in him now (poor guy, that needle is huge - I laughed a bit because I used to have Nexplanon, the birth control arm implant, and the device for insertion looks almost identical) and did rabies the same day.

She's already faxed the paperwork to our USDA office for preapproval, so she's honestly just waiting for me to give her a travel date. I took a look at United and Delta's new ESA policy and there is no issue here, I just have to have my therapist fill out an extra page of documentation, have my vet sign an extra page of documentation and I have to sign a form saying that my dog will be well behaved.

The husband and I were originally planning for me to move over in 2017, but things got pushed back a bit, so at our vet appointment in Jan. 2017, we just did a year rabies shot rather than the three year. This year at our annual appointment, we did indeed have to get a new microchip as the one that he has is a North American one and only 10 digits. I had the ARC website and the USDA website pulled up so that we could check the ISO rating on the microchip before we put it in. We have the correct microchip in him now (poor guy, that needle is huge - I laughed a bit because I used to have Nexplanon, the birth control arm implant, and the device for insertion looks almost identical) and did rabies the same day.

She's already faxed the paperwork to our USDA office for preapproval, so she's honestly just waiting for me to give her a travel date. I took a look at United and Delta's new ESA policy and there is no issue here, I just have to have my therapist fill out an extra page of documentation, have my vet sign an extra page of documentation and I have to sign a form saying that my dog will be well behaved.

Yes. Just remember to go the ESA route, you need to fly in CDG. The UK does not recognize emotional support animals.

This is exactly what I'm doing. Hired the folkstone taxi to drive us.


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Yes. Just remember to go the ESA route, you need to fly in CDG. The UK does not recognize emotional support animals.

This is exactly what I'm doing. Hired the folkstone taxi to drive us.


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The UK does not recognize them, but you can fly to the UK with an ESA if your flight is originating in the US with a US carrier such as Delta, American, etc. You obviously need to check with the carrier first, but I have been in contact with Delta and the Heathrow ARC to double check all of this. Unless they just changed the rules in the last month or so. You have to pay £366 for preapproval with the Heathrow ARC since they are not an ADI approvied service animal, but the money is not an issue here.