Moving to the United States with a dog or cat is entirely doable, but the rules for dogs changed substantially on 1 August 2024, when the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) replaced its old system with a mandatory CDC Dog Import Form, a minimum age, and a microchip rule. This guide covers what a European resident needs to do to bring a dog or cat to the USA — and the essentials for bringing them back to Europe — with every figure drawn from official government sources and linked inline.

Freshness note: pet-import rules and country risk classifications change. Always verify the specific requirement that applies to your dog’s or cat’s travel history before you book freight.

Key takeaways

• Every dog entering or re-entering the USA needs a CDC Dog Import Form receipt, an ISO-compatible microchip, must be at least 6 months old, and must look healthy on arrival (CDC Dog Import FAQs).
• The CDC Dog Import Form is free, filed online, and its receipt for low-risk countries is valid for six months and allows multiple entries (CDC Dog Import Form instructions).
• Whether your dog faces extra rules depends on its country of rabies risk: if a country is not on the CDC high-risk list, only the four basic requirements apply (CDC high-risk countries). Most of Europe is not high-risk.
• Dogs from high-risk countries may only arrive at a limited set of airports with a CDC-registered animal care facility, need endorsed rabies documentation, and may require a titre test or quarantine (CDC US-vaccinated from high-risk).
• Cats have no CDC rabies-vaccine requirement and no USDA APHIS import requirement — they simply must arrive healthy — though vaccination is recommended and your destination state or airline may demand it (USDA APHIS import).
• CBP clears your pet at the border and enforces CDC and USDA rules; a sick-looking animal can be examined by a vet at your expense (CBP: Bringing Pets).
• Hawaii and Guam run their own strict quarantine regimes — including for pets arriving from the US mainland (Hawaii Animal Quarantine).

1. Which agency controls what

Three US federal agencies sit behind pet imports, and it helps to know who does what:

• CDC is the lead authority for dogs, because its concern is preventing the re-introduction of dog-maintained rabies (CDC dog importation).
• USDA APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) handles animal-health risks such as screwworm and foot-and-mouth disease, and issues the export paperwork when pets leave the USA (APHIS pet travel).
• US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) physically inspects and clears the animal at the port of entry and enforces the other agencies’ rules (CBP).

Your destination state (and any US airline) can add its own rules on top — most commonly a current rabies certificate for cats and dogs.

2. Bringing a dog: the four rules that always apply

Since 1 August 2024, every dog — regardless of origin, including US dogs coming home — must meet four baseline requirements (CDC Dog Import FAQs):

1. Appear healthy on arrival.
2. Be at least 6 months old at the time of entry.
3. Have a microchip that can be read by a universal scanner. It must be an ISO-compatible chip, and — critically for high-risk cases — it must be implanted before any rabies vaccination, or the vaccine is treated as invalid (CDC via AVMA).
4. Have a CDC Dog Import Form receipt.

The age rule is the one that catches families out: you cannot import a puppy under six months, full stop.

The CDC Dog Import Form

The form is completed online by the importer (no vet needed to sign it), and it is free (CDC Dog Import Form instructions). CDC recommends completing it a few days before travel, though it can be filed any time up to six months ahead — or right before entry, as it takes only a few minutes from any location with internet access. You will receive a receipt by email — print it and carry it, because CBP will ask for it.

For dogs coming only from low-risk or rabies-free countries, the receipt is valid for six months and permits multiple entries, provided the dog has not been in a high-risk country in the previous six months (CDC Dog Import Form instructions).

3. Low-risk vs high-risk countries — the decision that shapes your move

CDC classifies countries by their risk of exporting dog-maintained rabies. This single distinction determines whether your dog’s import is simple or complex.

How to check: CDC publishes only the high-risk list. If your country of origin — and everywhere your dog has been in the past six months — is not on that list, the country counts as rabies-free or low-risk (CDC high-risk countries). CDC still strongly recommends rabies vaccination, but the extra high-risk requirements do not apply.

Most European countries are not high-risk. Finland, the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and the like are treated as low-risk or rabies-free, so a dog moving from those countries needs only the four baseline rules above and can enter through any US port or airport (CDC rabies-free/low-risk countries).

The high-risk list runs to over 100 countries — including examples such as Egypt, Kenya, Russia, Peru, India and the Dominican Republic (CDC high-risk countries). What matters is your dog’s travel history: if it has spent time in a high-risk country within the last six months, the stricter regime applies even if you are flying from an EU airport.

4. Dogs from high-risk countries — the strict track

If your dog has been in a high-risk country in the six months before entry, expect materially more paperwork and constraints (CDC US-vaccinated from high-risk):

• Limited arrival airports. The dog may only enter at an airport that has a CDC-registered animal care facility. CDC maintains the current list — confirm it before booking, as facilities change (CDC-registered animal care facilities).
• Reservation required at that facility for examination and, if needed, revaccination.
• Endorsed rabies documentation. A foreign-vaccinated dog needs a Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, endorsed by an official government veterinarian, completed no more than 30 days before travel (CDC via AVMA). CDC treats this certification as valid for 30 days from the date of examination — in practice a single entry.
• Titre test or quarantine. To avoid quarantine, a foreign-vaccinated dog generally needs an adequate rabies serology (titre) result from a CDC-approved laboratory; without it, a period of quarantine after revaccination may apply (CDC via AVMA).
• For a high-risk origin, the CDC form receipt is valid for a single entry on the specified arrival date only, not six months.

Returning US-vaccinated dogs

If your dog was vaccinated in the USA and is coming back from a high-risk country, then since 1 August 2025 the accepted proof is the Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form, completed by a USDA-accredited vet before the dog leaves the US. A USDA-endorsed export health certificate issued after 31 July 2025 is no longer accepted for this purpose (though a certificate issued on or before that date may still be used) (CDC US-vaccinated from high-risk).

5. Bringing a cat: much simpler

For cats, the federal picture is refreshingly light:

• USDA APHIS has no animal-health import requirement for pet cats arriving from a foreign country (APHIS import).
• CDC does not require a rabies vaccination for cats and does not require a CDC form for them; the cat simply must appear healthy on arrival (CDC: Bringing an Animal).

That said, rabies vaccination is strongly recommended, and your destination state or airline may require it. For example, some states require cats three months and older to hold a current rabies certificate, while others do not — check the state you are landing in. If a cat looks unwell at the border, CBP can require a vet examination at your expense (CBP).

6. USDA screwworm and disease-country rules

Separate from CDC’s rabies remit, APHIS Veterinary Services imposes requirements when a dog arrives from a country affected by screwworm or foot-and-mouth disease. In practice this means, for dogs arriving from certain regions (parts of Latin America among them), an official veterinary certificate confirming the dog was inspected and found free of screwworm within a short window before travel (APHIS: Pet dogs import). For a standard European origin this generally does not apply, but confirm against the APHIS dog-import page for your exact route.

7. Hawaii and Guam: their own quarantine world

If your US destination is Hawaii or Guam, ignore the "any airport" comfort above. Both run state/territory rabies-quarantine programmes that apply even to pets arriving from the US mainland. Hawaii requires, among other things, proof of two rabies vaccinations within set timeframes and a passing FAVN rabies titre test for both dogs and cats, and non-compliant animals face quarantine (Hawaii Animal Quarantine Information). Plan Hawaii and Guam moves many months ahead.

8. The return trip: taking a pet from the USA back to Europe

Flyto moves work both ways, so the reverse corridor matters. To bring a dog or cat into the EU from the USA, the pet needs an ISO microchip implanted before a valid rabies vaccination, a wait of at least 21 days after the primary vaccination, and an EU animal health certificate issued by a licensed vet and endorsed by USDA APHIS, valid for 10 days from endorsement to arrival at the EU border inspection post (APHIS: US to Finland/Ireland/Malta/Norway; EU rules on travelling with pets).

Several member states add rules. Bringing a dog into Finland, Ireland, Malta or Norway requires a tapeworm (echinococcus) treatment administered by a vet 1–5 days (24–120 hours) before entry, and pets arriving in Finland from outside the EU by air must enter via Helsinki Airport, presenting the pet and its documents to Customs through the red channel (Finnish Customs: travelling with a pet). Confirm the destination country’s specifics before you fly.

How Flyto handles this

Flyto runs pet-inclusive relocations as a single door-to-door PLATINUM service, in either direction — to or from the USA. Because overseas moves are Platinum-only, you get one coordinated project rather than a stack of separate vendors: we align the household-goods shipment with the animal’s timeline, brief you on the exact CDC and USDA documents your dog or cat needs for its specific route, and coordinate the microchip-before-vaccination sequence, the CDC Dog Import Form filing, endorsed health certificates, IATA-compliant crating, the airline pet booking, and clearance and onward delivery at the other end. For high-risk-country dogs we plan around the approved-airport and animal-care-facility constraints from the outset, and for the return leg to Europe we handle the USDA-endorsed EU health certificate and country-specific steps such as Finland’s tapeworm treatment. See the https://flytorelocation.com/us/moving-to-and-from-the-usa-2026-complete-relocation-guide/ guide for the full USA relocation picture and the https://flytorelocation.com/usa/ page for corridor-specific detail.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the CDC Dog Import Form if my dog comes from a rabies-free country like the UK or Finland?
Yes. The CDC Dog Import Form is required for every dog, regardless of origin. Low-risk-country dogs need only the four basic requirements, but the form receipt is one of them (CDC Dog Import FAQs).

Can I bring a puppy younger than six months?
No. Since 1 August 2024 every imported dog must be at least six months old at entry, with no low-risk exception (CDC Dog Import FAQs).

Does my cat need a rabies vaccine to enter the USA?
Not federally — CDC does not require it and APHIS has no cat import requirement — but it is recommended and your destination US state or airline may require a current rabies certificate (APHIS import).

How much does the CDC Dog Import Form cost?
It is free and filed online, ideally a few days before travel (and valid for up to six months from a low-risk country) (CDC Dog Import Form instructions).

How do I know if my country is high-risk?
Check the CDC high-risk list. If your country — and everywhere the dog has been in the past six months — is not listed, it counts as low-risk or rabies-free (CDC high-risk countries).

My microchip was implanted after the rabies shot — is that a problem?
For high-risk-country dogs, yes: the microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination, or CDC treats the vaccination as invalid for import (CDC via AVMA).

Can a high-risk-country dog fly into any US airport?
No. It must arrive at an airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility, with a reservation. Confirm the current facility list before booking (CDC-registered animal care facilities).

What do I need to take my pet back to the EU?
An ISO microchip, a valid rabies vaccination (microchipped first, then a 21-day wait), and a USDA-endorsed EU health certificate valid for 10 days — plus country extras such as Finland’s tapeworm treatment (APHIS export; Finnish Customs).

Sources

• CDC — Frequently Asked Questions on Dog Importations
• CDC — Dog Import Form and Instructions
• CDC — High-Risk Countries for Dog Rabies
• CDC — Entry Requirements for Dogs from Rabies-Free or Low-Risk Countries
• CDC — Entry Requirements for US-Vaccinated Dogs from High-Risk Countries
• CDC — CDC-registered Animal Care Facilities
• CDC — Bringing an Animal into the US
• USDA APHIS — Import a Pet from Another Country to the US
• USDA APHIS — Pet Dogs Import into the US
• USDA APHIS — Take a Pet from the US to Another Country (Export)
• USDA APHIS — Pet travel from the US to Finland, Malta, Ireland and Norway
• US CBP — Bringing Pets and Wildlife into the United States
• European Commission — EU rules on travelling with pets
• Finnish Customs — Travelling with a pet
• Hawaii Animal Industry Division — Animal Quarantine Information
• AVMA — CDC dog importation requirements: FAQs for veterinarians