Bringing a dog or cat into France: the 2026 rules by country of departure

At a glance, by country of departure

In every case: a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination, a pet of roughly 15 weeks or older, no more than five animals, and a journey linked to the owner's own. France issues no advance import authorisation for a pet dog or cat: these conditions are what gets checked.

The 2026 framework and the transition period

Since 22 April 2026, non-commercial movements of dogs, cats and ferrets have been governed by the EU Animal Health Law (Regulation (EU) 2016/429) and the acts that implement it:

• Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131: the health conditions (identification, vaccination, titre test, number of animals);
• Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/636: the lists of non-EU countries (Annexes I and II), extended in June 2026 to Montenegro and Serbia;
• Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/705: the models for the passport, the health certificate and the declarations;
• Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/273: checks at points of entry and what happens when a pet does not comply.

They replace Regulations 576/2013 and 577/2013, which several French government pages still cite. French customs and the DGAL note updated in June 2026 work from the 2026 texts.

What applies wherever the pet comes from

• Identification. A microchip meeting ISO 11784/11785, or a clearly readable tattoo applied before 3 July 2011. If the chip is not ISO-compliant, the owner must bring a reader.
• Rabies vaccination. Given by an official or authorised vet to an animal at least 12 weeks old, after the microchip (the same visit is fine once the chip has been read). A primary vaccination becomes valid only after at least 21 days; a booster given before the previous one expires is valid straight away.
• Minimum age. France does not accept unvaccinated pets, or pets whose vaccination is not yet valid, and there is no exemption at all for arrivals from outside the EU. In practice a puppy or kitten cannot enter before about 15 weeks (12 weeks plus 21 days), and much later from an unlisted country.
• No more than five pets per non-commercial movement, travelling with their owner or with someone the owner has authorised in writing, within five days of the owner's own journey (details below).

From another EU Member State

A dog or cat living elsewhere in the EU enters France on its EU pet passport, signed by the owner and issued in the Member State where the owner habitually lives. It needs the microchip and a valid rabies vaccination recorded in the passport, and nothing else: no titre test, no designated point of entry, no systematic check. France does not require tapeworm (Echinococcus) treatment on entry either.

A pet that entered the EU through another country on a health certificate can carry on to France on that certificate while it remains valid (see the health certificate).

For a stay of three months or more, the pet must be registered in the French I-CAD database within seven days (see France's own rules). See also the EU pet passport explained and travelling in the EU with a pet.

Country guides: France ⇄ Germany, France ⇄ Spain, France ⇄ Italy, France ⇄ Netherlands.

From an Annex I country

Annex I to Regulation 2026/636 lists countries and territories that apply rules equivalent to the EU's: Andorra, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City.

The pet travels on a passport issued in that country by an official or authorised vet. There is no titre test, no obligation to use a designated point of entry, and checks are made on a risk basis rather than systematically. France's own rules (dog categories, I-CAD) still apply, as for any other origin.

Worked example: France ⇄ Switzerland.

From an Annex II country

Annex II covers non-EU countries where rabies is considered under control. A pet arriving from one of them needs no titre test, but it does need an EU animal health certificate and must enter through a designated travellers' point of entry, where customs check it. The list, as amended in June 2026:

Watch the stopovers. The titre exemption assumes the pet comes directly from the listed country where its owner lives, or has stayed only in listed countries. If the route connects through an unlisted country (Qatar or Türkiye, for instance), the owner or authorised person signs a declaration (Annex V, Part 5, of Regulation 2026/705) that the pet stayed on the aircraft or inside the airport's international zone and had no contact with animals that can carry rabies.

Detailed guides: France ⇄ USA, France ⇄ Canada, France ⇄ UK, France ⇄ UAE, France ⇄ Japan, France ⇄ Singapore, France ⇄ Hong Kong, France ⇄ Taiwan, France ⇄ Australia, France ⇄ New Zealand.

From an unlisted country: titre test and a three-month wait

Any country in neither Annex I nor Annex II is "unlisted". That includes China, South Korea, Türkiye, Thailand, India, Morocco, Brazil, South Africa and Russia, among others. On top of the Annex II requirements (health certificate, designated point of entry), the pet needs a rabies antibody titre test:

• blood sample taken by an official or authorised vet at least 30 days after the primary vaccination (or during a vaccination series that has stayed valid);
• tested by an EU-approved laboratory (the European Commission publishes the list, which includes laboratories outside the EU);
• a result of 0.5 IU/ml or more;
• sample taken at least 90 days before the date the health certificate is issued. The reference point is the certificate date, not the arrival date.

The test does not need repeating as long as each rabies booster is given before the previous one expires. A certified copy of the lab report is attached to the health certificate. For a puppy or kitten born in an unlisted country, the arithmetic gives at least 204 days (12 weeks, 30 days, then 90 days): close to seven months before it can travel to France.

Example timeline from an unlisted country

An adult cat lives in Seoul with a family moving to France. It has never been vaccinated against rabies. The dates below are a worked example; we recalculate them for every file with the vet.

1. Microchip and rabies vaccination 2 November 2026

   The chip is implanted and read, then the vaccine is given at the same visit.

2. Blood sample for the titre test from 2 December 2026

   At least 30 days after the primary vaccination. The sample goes to an EU-approved laboratory; the result must reach 0.5 IU/ml.

3. Health certificate issued not before 2 March 2027

   At least 90 days after the blood sample. The certificate is signed by an official vet in the country of departure, or completed by an authorised vet and then endorsed by the competent authority.

4. Arrival in France within 10 days of the certificate

   A certificate issued on 4 March, for example, allows arrival up to 14 March. At the airport, the cat is presented to customs before leaving the international zone.

5. I-CAD registration within 7 days of arrival

   At a vet in France, for a stay of three months or more.

All told, allow at least four months between the first vet visit and departure. A single date error (vaccine before the chip, blood drawn too early) pushes the whole schedule back.

Detailed guides: France ⇄ South Korea, France ⇄ China.

The EU animal health certificate

For a pet arriving from an Annex II or unlisted country, the health certificate takes the place of the passport. It follows the model in Annex III to Regulation 2026/705.

• Who issues it: an official vet in the country of dispatch, or an authorised vet whose certificate is then endorsed by that country's competent authority (in the United States, for example, the USDA).
• 10 days to enter: the certificate is valid for 10 days from issue (or endorsement) until the check at the EU point of entry. By sea, the length of the voyage is added.
• 6 months after that: once checked on entry, it covers onward travel within the EU for 6 months, or until the rabies vaccination expires if that comes first.
• Languages: at least one official language of the Member State of entry, plus English. For entry into France: French and English.
• Attachments: certified copies of the identification and vaccination details, the titre report where required, and the owner's written declaration that the movement is not for sale or any other transfer of ownership.

A pet that lives in the EU and returns on its passport needs no certificate, unless a rabies booster or titre test was done outside the EU: then the passport alone is no longer enough, and a certificate signed by the non-EU country's official authorities is required. Overview of every document: veterinary travel documents.

Points of entry and the customs check

A pet arriving from an Annex II or unlisted country must come in through a designated travellers' point of entry. For France, the European Commission refers to France's list of border crossing points published in the EU Official Journal in 2021. It includes Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, Nice-Côte d'Azur, Marseille-Provence, Toulouse-Blagnac, Bordeaux-Mérignac, Nantes-Atlantique and Basel-Mulhouse, as well as seaports and railway stations. It is not a pet-specific list, and it gives no hours for pet checks.

• Declare and present the pet. On arrival from a non-EU country, travellers present their pet and its documents to customs officers, who carry out the document and identity check and stamp the health certificate. There is no appointment to book: you go to the customs desk before leaving the international zone.
• The check happens at the first EU point of entry. A cat flying Montreal → Paris → Nice is checked in Paris. A dog flying Dubai → Frankfurt → Lyon is checked in Germany, and its certificate must then be in German and English.
• Transit without leaving the international zone. A pet that stays airside while connecting at Roissy or Orly to a non-EU country is not subject to the entry rules. If it leaves the international zone, it must meet them.

On choosing the arrival airport, and on cargo arrivals, see French airports for pets.

If the pet does not comply

When the check finds a problem (an unreadable chip, a vaccine given before the chip, a missing titre test, an expired certificate), the authorities decide, after consulting the official vet, to:

• isolate the pet under official supervision until it complies;
• send it back outside the EU;
• or, as a last resort, where those measures are not practical, have it put down.

These measures are at the expense of the owner or the authorised person, with no compensation. That is why we check every date and every document before departure, not on arrival.

Non-commercial or commercial movement

Everything above concerns non-commercial movements: the pet goes with its owner, with no sale and no change of owner. Three conditions matter.

• Five pets at most (dogs, cats and ferrets combined) per movement, in a single means of transport unless it is public transport. The only exception above five: a competition, show or sporting event, with proof of registration, for animals over 6 months old.
• The owner or an authorised person. If the owner does not travel with the pet, they name a natural person in writing (model in Annex V, Part 1, of Regulation 2026/705), attached to the certificate or passport.
• Within five days. The pet travels no more than five days before or after its owner, which customs may check against proof (boarding pass, ticket).

Using a relocation agent or flying as cargo does not, on its own, make the movement commercial. The European Commission says so in its Q&A: a dog the airline requires to travel in the hold remains a non-commercial movement if the owner or the authorised person is on the same flight and responsible for it; and a pet on a different flight can stay non-commercial if the owner travels within five days and a clearly identified person, authorised in writing, is responsible for it throughout. That person may, where appropriate, be a member of the carrier's staff. A company cannot itself be the authorised person.

The movement becomes commercial when there is a sale, an adoption or any other transfer of ownership, more than five pets outside an event, or more than five days between the pet's journey and the owner's. The pet must then go through a border control post approved for the species, with a commercial certificate and a common health entry document (CHED-A) in TRACES. Not every post is approved for dogs and cats, and a pet presented at one that is not will be sent back.

France's own rules

France applies the EU rules and adds its own, wherever the pet comes from.

• Category 1 dogs (attack dogs without a recognised pedigree, of American Staffordshire Terrier, Mastiff or Tosa type): import and introduction banned everywhere in France, including in transit.
• Category 2 dogs (pedigree American Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers and Tosas, and Rottweiler-type dogs): entry possible with the pedigree registration papers (except for Rottweiler types), then a keeping permit from the town hall. Details: bringing a dog to France.
• One adult tooth: according to the DGAL note, a dog imported from a non-EU country may only enter France if it has at least one adult tooth.
• Hybrid cats and dogs (Bengal, Savannah, wolfdog…): they count as pets only if registered in a recognised pedigree book (the LOOF for cats; the LOF or an FCI-recognised book for dogs). Otherwise, a permit from the DREAL must be obtained in advance. Details: bringing a cat to France.
• I-CAD within 7 days: except for stays under three months, a pet imported from a non-EU country or arriving from another Member State must be registered by a vet in the national identification database within seven days. The vet issues a provisional identification certificate valid for one month. A foreign microchip readable with an ISO reader is kept. Registration fees are set by I-CAD.
• Guide and assistance dogs: there is no exemption on import; the same rules apply.

For the first weeks in France, see moving to France with pets: the checklist.

Frequently asked questions

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