Bringing a dog or cat into or out of Vietnam (2026): papers, rabies test, timelines

Moving to Vietnam with your dog or cat, or taking your pet home with you? This guide covers the Vietnamese quarantine papers for import and export under the 2026 rules, the rabies vaccine, blood test and microchip that other countries ask for, cabin or cargo, how long each step takes, and where to get the papers in Hà Nội and Ho Chi Minh City.

Which Vietnamese rules apply in 2026?

Three documents matter. The Veterinary Law 79/2015/QH13, as amended by Law 146/2025/QH15 from 1 January 2026, says that listed animals must be quarantined before import, and before export as the importing country or the owner requires. Circular 01/2026/TT-BNNMT, in force since 1 January 2026, sets out how quarantine works. Dogs and cats are on its list of animals subject to quarantine. It replaced the older circulars, including Circular 25/2016. Decree 204/2026/NĐ-CP, in force since 1 August 2026, sets the fines.

Two more changes affect you. On 1 October 2026 the regional animal quarantine offices were merged, so older guides give office names and phone numbers that no longer apply. And Law 21/2026/QH16 amends the import and export articles of the Veterinary Law from 1 January 2027. If you travel in 2027, check the procedure again before you book.

How do I bring my dog or cat into Vietnam?

Circular 01/2026 has a simpler route for animals carried with a person: no more than 2 animals, kept as pets or for the household, or taken along on holiday, on a work trip or in transit. Under this route:

1. Before you fly, get the official health certificate from the government veterinary service of the country you are leaving. Vietnamese law requires a certificate from the competent authority of the exporting country that meets Vietnam's animal health requirements. Ask that authority which certificate it uses for Vietnam. The UK and Slovenian certificates for Vietnam, for example, require a rabies vaccine given at least 30 days and no more than 12 months before travel. They also require a vet check within 48 hours of departure and are valid for 10 days. The US certificate lists the microchip number as required.
2. Before you fly, contact the Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health (Cục Chăn nuôi và Thú y). The Veterinary Law (Article 46.3) says animals must be declared to the central veterinary authority before they reach the border. Give your flight, airport and the pet's details, ask whether they want anything extra, and keep their reply.
3. When you land, declare your pet directly at the animal quarantine office at the airport. Do not walk through with the pet undeclared.
4. The officer checks the certificate and examines your pet. A pet that is not protected against a dangerous disease can be vaccinated there. Samples are taken only if the pet seems sick.
5. The import quarantine certificate is issued within 1 working day if no samples are taken, or within 1 working day of the lab result if they are. Working days exclude weekends and public holidays. If you land at night, at a weekend or around Tết, ask the airport station in advance who is on duty and where the pet stays until the certificate is issued. If samples are taken, ask where the pet waits for the result.

This route is for pets that fly with you, in the cabin or as checked baggage on your ticket. If the airline sends your pet as cargo on its own air waybill or on another flight, ask the Department in writing before booking whether the full import route applies.

The circular does not mention a quarantine kennel or a number of isolation days for this route. That is our reading of what the text leaves out, not a promise. If anyone quotes you a fixed number of quarantine days for a single pet, ask them which document says so. If your foreign certificate is missing, wrong or expired, the pet is held at the airport (Circular 01/2026, Article 14.5), so check every date and the microchip number on it before you board.

If you bring more than 2 animals, or the animals are not personal pets, the full import route applies. You register first with the Department, online through the National Single Window or the national public service portal, by post, by email or in person. The Department replies within 4 working days of a complete application. The animals are then isolated at a place you arrange, under official supervision, for no more than 45 days.

Pet food: you may not carry fresh or raw animal products. The circular exempts up to 5 kg of processed, packaged food for personal consumption. It does not clearly say whether pet food counts, so bring only a few days' supply of dry food or tins in sealed packs, declare it, and buy the rest in Vietnam.

How do I take my dog or cat out of Vietnam?

Work backwards from the country you are going to. Its rules decide the microchip, vaccine, blood test and waiting time, and the Vietnamese export certificate is the last step. Even if the destination asks for no certificate at all, Circular 01/2026 (Article 8.4) still requires quarantine whenever an animal leaves its province, so you always leave with Vietnamese papers.

1. Read the destination's official rules (links below), and get the airline's written confirmation for your pet's breed, size and route.
2. Microchip first, then the rabies vaccine. The EU and the US do not accept a rabies vaccine given before the microchip; the UK accepts the microchip before or at the same time as the vaccine, and wants an ISO 11784/11785 chip.
3. Rabies blood test (titer test), if your destination asks for it. A vet takes the blood and sends it to a laboratory on the destination's approved list. The result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml. The EU and CDC lists are different, so if you might go to both, choose a lab on both. The CDC list has no laboratory in Vietnam, so the sample is sent abroad, which adds time.
4. Wait out the destination's waiting period: for the EU, at least 90 days from the sample to the date the health certificate is issued; for the UK, 3 months from the sample to travel.
5. Apply for the Vietnamese export quarantine certificate. Send the application form (form 2a of Circular 01/2026) to the regional animal quarantine office. Attach the destination's animal health requirements, and its certificate template if it has one. You can file online through the National Single Window or the public service portal, or by post, email, fax or in person. Form 2a is in Vietnamese and asks for an ID or passport number, so bring a Vietnamese speaker or a translation. If you email or fax it, send the signed original afterwards. The office reviews the file within 1 working day and tells you when and where the pet will be examined. The certificate is issued within 1 working day of the start of quarantine, or 5 working days if samples are needed. An online filing gets an electronic certificate by default, so ask for a signed paper original too. Ask whether the office's official vet will also sign the destination's own certificate (the EU or GB model), and bring a blank copy in English.
6. Time it to the destination's window. The EU and the UK want the health certificate issued no more than 10 days before arrival. Ask for the inspection about 5 to 7 days before the flight, so you have a spare working day, and avoid weekends, Tết and public holidays. (For Australia, the final certificate is issued in the approved country the pet flies from, not in Vietnam.)
7. At the departure airport, the quarantine office checks and endorses the certificate.

What does each destination require from a pet leaving Vietnam?

Step-by-step guides by destination: USA · Australia · Japan · EU · UK · Canada · Singapore · Taiwan.

Lead times are our own calculation from the official rules, counted from the day of the microchip and rabies vaccine, for a pet already old enough. Lab turnaround and airline booking add time. The EU applies new regulations from 22 April 2026 (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131); the core numbers above did not change.

Australia: pets from Vietnam must first live for at least 180 days in a country Australia approves, and every vaccine and test is redone there, because Australia does not accept a rabies vaccine given in Vietnam. The Australian government advises allowing at least 6 months for health checks, tests and paperwork. Read its current import conditions before you plan, because its pathways change.

Moving elsewhere, for example to Singapore, Japan, South Korea or Canada? This guide does not cover those rules. Read the official page of the destination's animal quarantine authority first, because some have long waiting periods and advance-notice deadlines.

Can my pet fly in the cabin?

It depends on the destination and the airline. The UK takes pets only as cargo, except on a chartered private plane or for assistance dogs, and Australia only as cargo into Melbourne. Into the EU and the US, the airline decides whether a small pet may travel in the cabin, and it sets the weight limit, the carrier size and the breeds it refuses.

Flat-faced breeds are the hard case. Vietnamese airlines refuse pugs, French bulldogs, Persian cats and other flat-faced breeds on domestic flights, because they struggle to cool themselves. Vietnam Airlines Cargo also refuses some dog breeds, including bulldogs, terriers, boxers and pugs. Because the UK and Australia take pets only as cargo, a flat-faced pet may have no route at all. Get the airline's written approval for your pet's breed, route and month before you pay for the blood test. In Vietnam's heat, ask for a night or early-morning flight, ask whether the airline stops carrying pets in hot months, and ask your vet before giving any sedative.

If your route changes planes in another country, put that country on form 2a as the transit country. Check that country's transit rules and the airline's, and prefer one airline or a direct flight.

What is a realistic timeline?

Example: a 2-year-old cat moving from Hà Nội to Germany, with no microchip yet.

1. Day 0: microchip, then the rabies vaccine at a vet clinic. Ask for both numbers on the vaccination record.
2. Day 30 or later: blood sample for the titer test, sent to an EU-approved laboratory.
3. Day 120 or later: earliest date for the EU health certificate (90 days after the sample).
4. 3 to 4 weeks before the flight: file the Vietnamese export application, and agree an inspection date about 5 to 7 days before the flight, not on a weekend, Tết or a public holiday. Ask for paper originals.
5. Inspection day: the pet is examined, and the certificates follow within 1 working day (5 if samples are taken).
6. Flight: the departure airport's quarantine office endorses the certificate, and you enter the EU through a designated travellers' point of entry.

Give the rabies booster on the date your vet sets. If the vaccination lapses before the trip, ask the destination's authority what has to be repeated.

Checklist

1. Destination's official pet page read, and printed or saved.
2. Airline's written confirmation: cabin or cargo, carrier size, weight, breed, month, and the documents it checks.
3. Microchip (ISO 11784/11785) implanted before the rabies vaccine, with the number on every document.
4. Rabies vaccine given when the pet was at least 12 weeks old, with boosters on time.
5. Blood test at an approved lab, if required, and the lab report kept with the papers.
6. Waiting period finished.
7. Vietnamese export application (form 2a) filed with the regional office, and the inspection date agreed.
8. Destination treatments done in their window (for example tapeworm treatment for dogs to the UK).
9. Vietnamese export certificate (form 13a) and the destination's own health certificate, both signed on paper, originals plus copies.
10. Coming into Vietnam: rabies vaccine at least 30 days old, microchip, the official health certificate from the country you leave (check its validity days), the vaccine record and the Department's reply; declare at the airport quarantine office.

Where do I get the papers in Hà Nội and Ho Chi Minh City?

Since 1 October 2026, airport quarantine is done by two merged regional offices of the Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health:

• Hà Nội, Nội Bài airport: Chi cục Chăn nuôi và Thú y vùng miền Bắc (Northern regional sub-department of livestock production and animal health), based in Hải Phòng, with an animal quarantine station at Nội Bài airport. Ask where your pet's export inspection will take place.
• Ho Chi Minh City, Tân Sơn Nhất airport: Chi cục Chăn nuôi và Thú y vùng miền Nam (Southern regional sub-department), based in Ho Chi Minh City, with an animal quarantine station at Tân Sơn Nhất airport.

These are not the same as the Hà Nội or Ho Chi Minh City veterinary sub-departments, which handle city matters such as rabies campaigns. At the time of writing, the new street addresses and phone numbers of the merged offices are not on any official page we could find, and older guides list the pre-merger offices. To reach the right office, call the Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health (Cục Chăn nuôi và Thú y), 15/78 Giải Phóng, Hà Nội. The national public service portal lists both the import registration and the export certificate as online procedures. We have not tested whether a foreigner's account can file there; post, email and in person are also allowed.

The microchip, rabies vaccine and blood sample are done at a vet clinic. Ask the clinic which approved laboratory it sends titer samples to, and check that laboratory against the EU or CDC list yourself. Directory: vets in Hà Nội, vets in Ho Chi Minh City (pages in Vietnamese).

What are the fines and the scams to avoid?

Under Decree 204/2026, importing or exporting an animal without declaring or registering it for quarantine carries a fine of 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 VND for an individual. A false declaration carries 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 VND, and buying, selling or altering a quarantine certificate carries 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 VND. Organisations pay double.

The government fees are small: the fee schedule we could read lists 40,000 VND for an import quarantine certificate, halved until 31 December 2026, plus inspection and lab costs. Ask the office for the current amount. Vietnamese police have warned about pet scams in which a seller or transporter says a pet is "held at the quarantine station" and asks for more money or papers. Do not transfer money. Call the quarantine office yourself.

Moving within Vietnam instead? Pets taken to another province also need a quarantine registration: see flying with a pet within Vietnam (in Vietnamese).

Frequently asked questions

Does my pet have to stay in quarantine when it arrives in Vietnam?

Circular 01/2026 does not mention a quarantine period for 1 or 2 personal pets travelling with you. That is our reading of what the text leaves out, not a written guarantee. If the papers are in order and the pet is healthy, the certificate is issued within 1 working day of the check. If the officer suspects a disease, samples are taken and you wait for the lab result. If the foreign certificate is not valid, the pet is held. More than 2 animals can be isolated for up to 45 days. Contact the Department and the airport quarantine office before you fly.

Does Vietnam require a rabies blood test or a microchip?

Not in the Veterinary Law or Circular 01/2026, as read on 4 November 2026. But the official certificate from the country you leave is required, and those certificates set their own conditions. The UK and Slovenian ones require a rabies vaccine 30 days to 12 months before travel, and the US one lists a microchip as required. Plan on both.

How early should I start if I am moving to Europe or the UK?

About 4 months before the flight: microchip and rabies vaccine, a blood test at least 30 days later, then a 3-month wait. Start earlier with a puppy or kitten, because the vaccine cannot be given before 12 weeks of age.

Can I take my cat from Vietnam to the United States?

Yes. The CDC does not require proof of rabies vaccination for cats, and USDA APHIS sets no health requirement for pet cats, but cats must look healthy on arrival and may be inspected. Some US states and airlines have their own rules. You still need the Vietnamese quarantine certificate to leave. The CDC's strict rules are for dogs, because Vietnam is on its list of high-risk countries for dog rabies.

Can I fly my dog directly from Vietnam to Australia?

No. Vietnam is not an approved country for Australia. The pet must first live at least 180 days in an approved country, redo its vaccines and tests there, and then fly as cargo into Melbourne for at least 30 days of quarantine, or 10 days if eligible.

I will come back to Vietnam with the same pet later. What should I keep?

Keep the microchip, rabies boosters and every certificate and lab report. A pet that lives in the EU or the UK and had its blood test there before leaving may not need the 3-month wait to go back. When you return to Vietnam, ask the veterinary authority of the country you leave for its certificate for Vietnam.