Bringing a dog or cat from the USA to France: step by step

The steps at a glance

1. Check your pet can come as soon as the plan firms up

   Age, breed, number of pets, travelling with you or with an authorised person.

2. ISO microchip, then rabies vaccine at least 21 days before departure

   In that order, with a vaccination still valid on the travel date.

3. Book the pet's flight before fixing appointments

   The arrival date drives the rest of the calendar.

4. Accredited vet and certificate in VEHCS shortly before endorsement

   New EU model, in French and English.

5. USDA endorsement no more than 10 days before arrival

   The ink-signed original travels with the pet, together with your signed declaration.

6. Arrival, customs, then I-CAD within 7 days

   For stays of 3 months or more.

This article covers the US → France direction. For an overview of both directions, including moving from France to the US, see our France ⇄ USA guide.

Before you start: can your pet come?

For the European Union, the US is listed in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/636, so a pet arriving directly from the US needs no rabies antibody titre test. Four things still need checking before anything else:

• Age. The rabies vaccine can be given from 12 weeks of age and must be at least 21 days old, so a puppy or kitten cannot enter France before about 15 weeks. There is no exception for young animals from outside the EU.
• Breed. Category 1 dogs (attack dogs without a recognised pedigree, of American Staffordshire Terrier, Mastiff or Tosa type) cannot enter France, not even in transit. A category 2 dog can enter with proof of pedigree registration (not needed for Rottweilers), and will then need a keeping permit from the town hall. For a Bengal or Savannah cat, keep its pedigree or birth certificate: without proof of breed, the French veterinary authority (DGAL) treats it as a hybrid, which needs an import permit from the regional environment authority (DREAL).
• Number. At most five pets in a non-commercial movement.
• Who travels. The pet travels with you, or with someone you have authorised in writing, within 5 days before or after your own journey. Beyond that, or if the pet is being sold, the move is commercial and other rules apply.

For dog- and cat-specific rules, see bringing a dog to France and bringing a cat to France.

Step 1: an ISO microchip

The EU requires an ISO-standard microchip (or a clearly readable tattoo applied before 3 July 2011). Many American pets carry a chip of another standard. USDA lists two ways round this: travel with your own scanner that can read the chip, or have a second, ISO chip implanted and both numbers written on the certificate.

The chip must be implanted and read before the rabies vaccine. A vaccine given before the chip does not count: the pet would have to be vaccinated again, with another 21-day wait.

Step 2: the rabies vaccine

The vaccine is given from 12 weeks of age, after the microchip. A primary vaccination must be at least 21 days old on the day of travel; a booster given before the previous vaccine expired is valid straight away.

The EU rules accept inactivated or recombinant vaccines licensed in the country where they are given. Keep every rabies certificate since the microchip was implanted: the vet will need them to complete the health certificate.

Step 3: book the pet's flight

It may feel early, but the arrival date sets the window for USDA endorsement. Book the pet's place first, then the appointments. Airlines limit the number of pets per flight, and their rules change often. This is what they publish on their official pages as of 19 October 2026:

• Air France: in the cabin, a dog or cat up to 8 kg including the bag (no larger than 46 × 28 × 24 cm), at least 15 weeks old, added to the booking at least 48 hours before departure, and never in Business on intercontinental flights; in the hold up to 75 kg including the kennel, at least 24 hours before. Fare between the US and Europe: USD 200 in the cabin, USD 600 in the hold, one way. Snub-nosed pets travel in the cabin only, and category 1 dogs are refused.
• Delta: cabin pets to the EU from 15 weeks old, USD 200 each way, but not in Delta One, Delta Premium Select or international Business. Hold and cargo are reserved for military and State Department staff.
• American Airlines: no carry-on pets on transatlantic flights; other pets go through its cargo service.

A stopover in Canada or the UK changes nothing, as both are listed. If the routing goes through an unlisted country, you will sign a transit declaration. Remember that the check happens at the first EU airport: with a connection in Frankfurt or Amsterdam, it happens there, and the certificate must be in that country's language and English.

Step 4: the accredited vet and the EU certificate

The US cannot issue EU pet passports, so your pet travels on an EU health certificate for non-commercial movements. A USDA-accredited veterinarian (or a qualifying military vet) completes it after examining the pet, then submits it to USDA through VEHCS, APHIS's online veterinary certification system.

The new model, mandatory from 1 October 2026

Since 22 April 2026 the EU rules have been set by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131, and the certificate follows a new model laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/705. USDA states that the new non-commercial certificates took effect on 1 October 2026. The old model is accepted until 31 March 2027 only if it was issued before that date. In practice, any certificate written now must use the new model: check that your vet is working from the current version.

For a direct arrival in France, the certificate is in French and English and names France as the first Member State of destination.

The gap between the vet and USDA

USDA says the certificate is valid for 30 days after the accredited vet signs it: that is how long you have to get it endorsed. It is not the validity on arrival, which is 10 days (next step). In practice, book the vet visit just a few days before the endorsement date.

Step 5: USDA endorsement within 10 days

USDA APHIS must endorse the certificate within the 10 days before your pet arrives in the EU. The EU regulation counts those 10 days from the endorsement to the check at the point of entry. USDA ink-signs and embosses the certificate, and it is this original, not a copy, that travels with the pet. If it is returned to you by mail, a prepaid return label must be supplied when you submit.

USDA's fee schedule (modified 18 June 2026): USD 101 per certificate when no lab tests are needed, however many pets are on it; with one or two tests, USD 160 for the first pet plus USD 10 for each additional pet. Vaccines do not count as tests. The accredited vet's own fees are extra.

After the check in France, the certificate stays valid for 6 months for travel within the EU, or until the rabies vaccination expires if sooner.

Step 6: the owner's declaration

The final page of the certificate is a written declaration that the move is not aimed at selling the pet or transferring its ownership. The owner or the designated person completes and signs it, and it travels with the pet.

If someone other than you accompanies the pet, attach your signed written authorisation naming that person. They must travel within 5 days before or after you, and you may be asked for your boarding pass or ticket as proof.

Step 7: arriving in France

A pet coming from the US enters through a travellers' point of entry. For France, the European Commission refers to the list of border crossing points, which includes Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, Nice-Côte d'Azur, Marseille-Provence, Toulouse-Blagnac and Bordeaux-Mérignac.

On arrival you must declare and present your pet to customs before leaving the international zone. There is no appointment to book. Customs check the certificate, the microchip and the pet, and the certificate is always presented for stamping. Have the original certificate, the declaration, the vaccination records and your boarding pass ready.

If the conditions are not met, the pet can be sent back, isolated or, as a last resort, put down, at the owner's expense. That is why we check every document before departure. See also French airports and bringing a pet into France.

Step 8: after arrival, I-CAD

Except for stays of less than three months, a dog, cat or ferret imported from outside the EU must be registered in France's national identification database (I-CAD) within 7 days. A French vet records the details and hands you a provisional identification certificate valid for one month. Registration carries a fee, shown by the database operator.

Once you are resident in France, an authorised vet can issue your pet an EU pet passport for future travel within the EU. For a category 2 dog, remember the keeping permit from the town hall.

Coming home with a pet that left France?

If your pet lived in France, spent time in the US and is coming back with you, it can return on its EU pet passport, with no certificate, on one condition: the rabies vaccination recorded in the passport before departure must still be valid on return. A US vet cannot add a booster to that passport, and the DGAL notes that once a booster has been given abroad, the passport alone is no longer enough. If the EU vaccination has lapsed, follow the steps above with a USDA-endorsed certificate. The same applies if you were resident in the US: the pet then counts as coming from the US.

Mistakes that delay a move

• An old-model certificate issued on or after 1 October 2026.
• USDA endorsement obtained too early, more than 10 days before arrival.
• A microchip implanted after the vaccine, or a non-ISO chip with neither a scanner nor a second chip.
• A late rabies booster, which resets the 21-day clock.
• A French and English certificate when the first European airport is in Germany or the Netherlands.
• A pet travelling more than 5 days before or after its owner without the move being set up as commercial.

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