USDA Health Certificate for Pet Travel: How APHIS Endorsement Works (2026)

Do you need a USDA-endorsed health certificate?

It depends on where you're going. Every country sets its own entry rules for pets, which can include a microchip, specific vaccinations, tests and a health certificate. Many countries require that certificate to be endorsed (co-signed) by USDA before your pet leaves the U.S. Rules change often, so APHIS says to check your destination's requirements every time you travel.

Look up your destination on APHIS's pet travel page. It lists the requirements country by country.

Your airline may have different or additional requirements, so check your airline's pet policy too.

Source: Pet Travel Process Overview (USDA APHIS)

Step by step

1. Contact a USDA-accredited veterinarian as soon as you decide to travel. Not every vet is accredited: accreditation is voluntary and specific to each state. APHIS explains how to find one.
2. With your vet, check your destination country's requirements and plan a schedule so every vaccination, test and treatment is done within the required time frames.
3. Your vet completes, signs and dates the international health certificate.
4. If your destination requires USDA endorsement, the certificate goes to an APHIS endorsement office: your vet submits it online through VEHCS (option 1), or gives you the paperwork to ship (option 2). Use one option, not both.
5. Finish anything still outstanding. Some countries allow treatments after endorsement, such as tapeworm treatment for dogs going to Finland, Ireland, Norway, the UK and Malta, and some require consulate approval or advance notice.
6. Travel with the original paperwork. The original endorsed hard-copy certificate must go with your pet; officials in the destination country won't accept electronic versions.

Source: Pet Travel Process Overview (USDA APHIS)

What your vet will ask you

• The type of pet traveling
• The destination country
• Any countries where your pet will stop on the way (for customs clearance, or if you leave the airport or seaport)
• The date you leave the United States
• Whether your pet travels alone, as cargo, or with you in the cabin

Source: Take a Pet From the United States to Another Country (USDA APHIS)

How much time you have

Once your vet signs the certificate, the clock starts. Your destination country may accept it only for a limited time (APHIS gives 30 days as an example), and in that window it has to be endorsed by USDA and you have to travel. Check your destination's exact time frame before you book the vet visit.

Leave room for the endorsement itself. Missing documents or mistakes on the certificate hold up endorsement until your vet or you fix them.

Source: Pet Travel Process Overview (USDA APHIS)

What goes in the submission

Whether your vet submits online or you ship it, the endorsement office needs:

• The international health certificate (the original, if you ship it)
• Vaccination certificates, if your destination requires vaccinations
• Lab test results, if your destination requires tests
• An import permit, if your destination requires one
• The endorsement fee
• A prepaid express return shipping label, if you ship the paperwork, or if your destination doesn't accept APHIS's digital endorsement

VEHCS is APHIS's secure online system for creating, signing, submitting and endorsing export health certificates. Your accredited vet uses it on your behalf.

Sources: Pet Travel Process Overview (USDA APHIS), Using the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (USDA APHIS)

What it costs

APHIS charges per health certificate, based on how many lab tests your destination requires and how many pets are on the certificate. Vaccines don't count as tests. Your vet's own fees are separate.

• No endorsement fee for service dogs of people with disabilities as defined by the ADA. Emotional support animals pay the fee.
• Payment has to be in place before APHIS can endorse. Online (VEHCS) submissions are paid through your vet's VEHCS account or an APHIS user fee credit account; shipped submissions can use a user fee credit account or a credit or debit card (with APHIS's credit card information sheet).

Sources: Cost To Endorse Your Pet's Health Certificate (USDA APHIS), Pet Travel Process Overview (USDA APHIS)

If you ship the paperwork yourself

• Send it by overnight express (APHIS suggests FedEx or UPS) and choose priority delivery with tracking.
• Include a prepaid return label with your own name and address in both the TO and FROM fields. APHIS's address shouldn't appear on it. If the label asks for a package size, use 12.5 × 9.5 inches and 1 pound.
• Avoid UPS Ground, FedEx Ground and FedEx Home for the return: they don't pick up from APHIS offices, which can add a business day.
• Include APHIS's pet owner checklist for shipping health certificates, so it can contact you or your vet about any problem. If you give a phone number, make sure it takes voicemail.
• Without a return label, APHIS mails it back by USPS First Class Mail if it can't reach you.

Source: Pet Travel Process Overview (USDA APHIS)

Going to the EU? New certificates from October 1, 2026

Because of new EU rules, pets traveling to the European Union need a new health certificate. For pet (non-commercial) travel, the new certificates are effective October 1, 2026. Certificates on the old form that are already in process can be endorsed until September 30, 2026.

Source: Pet Travel From the United States to France (USDA APHIS)

Flying within the U.S.

APHIS doesn't regulate owners traveling with pets between U.S. states and territories. The state or territory you're going to sets the requirements, which can include a health certificate, vaccinations, tests or treatments. Ask your local vet as soon as you know your plans; APHIS lists each state's requirements.

Your airline can have its own paperwork rules on top of that, so check its pet policy.

Source: Take a Pet From One U.S. State or Territory to Another (USDA APHIS)