Bringing your dog to the US from Brazil

In short

• Brazil is on the CDC high-risk list. A dog that has been in Brazil in the last 6 months follows the high-risk rules, even a US dog on vacation.
• In Brazil, the official certificate comes from the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA): an electronic International Veterinary Certificate (e-CVI), requested online by your vet.
• Three Brazilian laboratories can run the CDC titer test, so the blood sample does not have to leave the country.
• São Paulo-Guarulhos has nonstop flights to four US airports that have a CDC-registered animal care facility.

Before you leave Brazil

The microchip must come before the rabies vaccination for a dog vaccinated outside the US. Check the dates in your dog’s records first; the full chain of dates is on foreign-vaccinated dogs.

Then plan the official certificate. MAPA’s citizen manual for the US explains how it works:

• One electronic certificate. MAPA issues an e-CVI (Certificado Veterinário Internacional) signed electronically by one of its federal agricultural inspectors (Auditor Fiscal Federal Agropecuário). According to the manual, after an agreement with MAPA it replaces the CDC’s Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip, so you do not present that CDC form separately.
• Requested by your vet, online. Only a veterinarian enabled on Gov.br can request it for the US. Your vet signs a Portuguese vaccination and microchip form (CPVM) inside the request, and completes a pre-filled health certificate (atestado de saúde) in blue ink after the clinical exam. MAPA’s page says the US certificate needs no further endorsement and no visit to a Vigiagro unit.
• Tight timing. The request can be opened up to 30 days before boarding, but the health certificate is only accepted from an exam 2 to 5 days before boarding. MAPA issues the e-CVI within 48 hours if the file is complete, and it is valid for boarding for 5 days from issue. MAPA’s general page for dogs also speaks of submitting between 5 and 2 days before departure; follow the US manual and confirm the exact window with your vet.
• Errors restart the clock. If a document is missing or wrong, MAPA sends the request back, and review starts again once the corrected file is resubmitted. Have your vet check the file before sending it. Questions go to cvi.vigiagro@agro.gov.br, but MAPA asks that you do not email documents.

A dog vaccinated in the US that has the Certification of US-Issued Rabies Vaccination, endorsed by USDA before it left the US, follows the US-vaccinated path. MAPA’s manual says that in that case the dog does not need a titer test or an animal care facility. See US-vaccinated dogs.

Titer test: three laboratories inside Brazil

Brazil is one of the few high-risk countries with approved laboratories of its own. The CDC list includes:

• Núcleo de Pesquisas em Raiva (Laboratório de Virologia Clínica e Molecular do Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas);
• TECSA LABORATÓRIOS LTDA;
• TECPAR, Instituto de Tecnologia do Paraná.

That removes the usual delay of shipping serum abroad, but not the waiting: the result still has to be in hand before the e-CVI file and the animal care facility booking are final. Ask the laboratory, before the blood draw, how it ships results and how long it takes. MAPA’s page lists rabies serology among the items that depend on the destination and does not give a US threshold, so the numbers that count are the CDC’s, explained on the rabies titer test page.

Flights from Brazil to a US facility

The facility comes first, then the flight. Route data for 2026 lists nonstop service from São Paulo-Guarulhos (GRU) to four airports with a CDC-registered animal care facility:

Frequencies change by season and these are aggregator listings, not airline schedules, so confirm with the airline that the specific flight carries dogs in cargo or as checked pets. A dog that lands at Newark or Dallas Love Field instead of JFK or DFW does not meet the facility’s airport rule. The full list of facilities is on animal care facilities.

If you live outside São Paulo, plan how the dog reaches Guarulhos before the international leg; we found no verified nonstop from other Brazilian cities to these airports. Layovers abroad are the other trap: keep your dog airside, since clearing customs in another high-risk country counts as having been there. The receipt for this trip covers one entry, on the date and at the airport you declared; see how long the receipt is valid.

Coming back to Brazil

According to MAPA’s manual, the e-CVI also covers the return to Brazil for 60 days from its issue date, as long as the rabies vaccination is still valid. After 60 days, your dog needs a new certificate endorsed by the official veterinary service of the country where it is (in the US, USDA), following the model on MAPA’s “Entrar no Brasil” page.