Before you move
Time
10 weeks to 6+ months lead time
Cost
€200 to 3,000+ depending on distance and route
Difficulty
Hard
What to bring
An ISO-compliant microchip
An up-to-date rabies vaccination
An export health certificate or pet passport, depending on your route
Not needed: Quarantine, in almost all cases, for pets with complete paperwork from a listed country
Your options
IPATA-member pet relocation specialist
End-to-end, paperwork, flights, and door-to-door delivery
€1,500 to 3,000+
Worth it for long-haul moves or if your airline restricts pet cargo. They know each departure country's export rules cold.
DIY, book your pet as cargo or excess baggage
You handle the vet paperwork, the airline handles the flight
€200 to 800
Cheaper, and works well for short-haul moves where the paperwork is light. Start the vet visits early regardless.
Vet visit for an export health certificate
Required regardless of which route you take
€80 to 250
Book this close to travel for non-EU routes, timing windows are strict and missing one usually means rebooking the flight.
Prices checked August 2026
Do it
- 1
Confirm the microchip and rabies vaccination timeline
The chip must be implanted before the rabies vaccine for it to count. From a rabies-controlled country (most of the EU, US, Canada, Australia), there's typically no waiting period after vaccination; from elsewhere, a blood titre test months before travel may be required.
- 2
Check your departure country's specific export rules
Rules differ sharply by origin. UK pets need an Animal Health Certificate issued shortly before travel, US and Canadian pets need a USDA- or CFIA-endorsed health certificate, and EU-to-EU moves usually just need a valid EU pet passport.
- 3
Book the flight or pet shipper early
Airlines cap how many animals fly per route per day, and summer heat embargoes block cargo pets on many airlines for several months. In July and August, book an early-morning or overnight flight, and expect snub-nosed breeds to be refused in cargo outright.
- 4
Arrange the trip from the airport
Pet taxis exist for the final leg in most cities, book one in advance if you're not driving yourself.
Common questions
Will my pet need to go into quarantine?
Not for pets arriving with valid, complete paperwork from a listed country. Quarantine is mainly a risk when paperwork is incomplete or the pet arrives from a non-listed, high-rabies-risk country.
Can I bring more than one pet?
Yes, but most airlines cap pets per passenger and per flight, check early if you're bringing more than one.
Full checklist tracking and task completion live in the Ternli app for Lisbon.