Bringing your dog to the US from Morocco
Morocco, with Western Sahara, is high risk for the CDC. Why the titer sample must leave Morocco, ONSSA, the arrival airport and the return to Morocco.
Morocco on the CDC list
Morocco is on the CDC list of high-risk countries for dog rabies. Any dog that has been there during the last 6 months follows the high-risk rules, even for a short stay.
If your dog has also been in another country in the last 6 months, that country counts too.
What your dog needs
If your dog was vaccinated in the US
With the USDA-endorsed Certification of US-Issued Rabies Vaccination:
- CDC Dog Import Form receiptFree on cdc.gov. Show the receipt to the airline and at the border, on paper or on your phone.
- At least 6 months old on arrivalYounger dogs cannot enter the US, whatever their papers.
- A microchipAny brand, as long as a universal scanner can read it. Ask your vet to check it.
- Healthy on arrivalA dog that looks sick can be refused boarding or entry.
- A clear photo of your dogFace and body visible, .jpg or .png, up to 10 MB. Under 1 year old: taken within 15 days before arrival.
- Certification of US-Issued Rabies VaccinationFilled in by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by USDA before the dog left the US. Carry 3 copies.
If your dog was vaccinated outside the US
The most demanding pathway:
- CDC Dog Import Form receiptFree on cdc.gov. Show the receipt to the airline and at the border, on paper or on your phone.
- At least 6 months old on arrivalYounger dogs cannot enter the US, whatever their papers.
- A microchipAny brand, as long as a universal scanner can read it. Ask your vet to check it.
- Healthy on arrivalA dog that looks sick can be refused boarding or entry.
- A clear photo of your dogFace and body visible, .jpg or .png, up to 10 MB. Under 1 year old: taken within 15 days before arrival.
- Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and MicrochipEndorsed by an official government vet of the country you leave, no more than 30 days before travel.
- Documents in EnglishOr with a certified English translation.
- Rabies titer test from a CDC-approved labRecommendedA blood test showing at least 0.5 IU/mL. Without it, your dog spends 28 days in quarantine at the facility.
- Booking at a CDC-registered animal care facilityThe facility examines your dog and gives a US rabies booster on arrival, at your cost.
- Direct flight to the facility’s airportNo connecting domestic flight before the facility has cleared your dog. No land crossing.
A dog that is not vaccinated against rabies cannot enter the US from Morocco.
Where your dog can arrive
Dogs vaccinated outside the US must land at one of these 8 airports, each with a CDC-registered animal care facility: ATL, DFW, IAD, JFK, LAX, MIA, PHL, SEA. US-vaccinated dogs with their certification can use any airport.
Local information
In short
- Morocco, including Western Sahara, is on the CDC high-risk list. A dog that has been there in the last 6 months follows the high-risk rules, even a US dog on holiday.
- There is no CDC-approved titer laboratory in Morocco: the blood sample must go abroad.
- A dog vaccinated in Morocco must fly directly into a US airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility.
- ONSSA, Morocco’s food safety office, handles the animal health certificates in and out of the country.
Before you leave Morocco
Check the microchip date first. For a dog vaccinated outside the US, the CDC requires the chip to be implanted before the rabies vaccination. A dog chipped after its last vaccination needs a new vaccination, and the titer test waits for it.
The CDC then asks for the Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip, completed by your vet and endorsed by an official government veterinarian no more than 30 days before travel. In Morocco, the authority for live animal exports is ONSSA (Office National de Sécurité Sanitaire des produits Alimentaires). Its website has a page for exporting dogs and cats. We could not confirm from public sources how ONSSA endorses the CDC form, so ask your vet which ONSSA veterinary service covers your area, what you must bring and how many days ahead to book. Do not leave this to the last week.
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 and does not need a titer test or an animal care facility. That certificate cannot be issued after the fact, so a US dog that has already left without it follows the foreign-vaccinated path. See US-vaccinated dogs.
Getting a titer test from Morocco
The CDC list of approved laboratories has no laboratory in Morocco. Your vet draws the blood in Morocco and sends the serum to an approved laboratory in another country. Spain and France both have laboratories on the list, but each laboratory sets its own rules for private samples, packaging and shipping, so ask before you draw. Allow for courier time, customs for a biological sample and the processing time.
The blood must be drawn at least 30 days after the rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before arrival in the US, with a result of at least 0.5 IU/mL. Without a valid titer, your dog faces a 28-day quarantine at the animal care facility. See the rabies titer test.
Flights to the US
A foreign-vaccinated dog from Morocco must fly directly into one of the US airports with a CDC-registered animal care facility, with a reservation there, and cannot take a domestic connection inside the US before the facility clears it. Casablanca is Morocco’s main gateway for flights to North America, but whether a route is nonstop, which airline carries dogs and under which conditions are airline decisions that change, so confirm them before you book. Choose the facility first and the flight second: the list is on animal care facilities.
If your route connects in Europe, keep your dog airside and with the airline. Neighboring Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and Senegal are on the CDC high-risk list, and so are Ceuta and Melilla, which the CDC lists separately from Spain. Clearing customs there counts as having been there. A dog that crosses from Morocco into mainland Spain is still a high-risk dog for the CDC.
The CDC receipt for a high-risk dog covers one entry, on the date and at the airport you declared. If the flight changes, the form must be done again.
Coming back to Morocco
ONSSA’s page for importing dogs and cats lists a reference health certificate for animals coming from the United States and tells importers to contact the veterinary service of their place of residence. The page does not list vaccination, titer or microchip requirements in the part we could read, and the model certificate it points to is dated 2017, so it may have changed. We cannot confirm the full list, so ask ONSSA or your Moroccan vet before you leave Morocco.
What Moroccan law sets in general, in decree 2-89-597 on veterinary police measures at import, is that animals arrive with an official health certificate from the place of origin issued less than 3 days before departure, and that animals are checked at the border for documents, identity and health. Only animals that comply are admitted.
Questions travelers ask
Is Morocco a high-risk country for the CDC?
Yes. The CDC lists Morocco, including Western Sahara, as high risk for dog rabies. Ceuta and Melilla are listed separately and are also high risk. A dog that has been there in the look-back window follows the high-risk rules, whatever its nationality.
Can the titer test be done in Morocco?
Not by a Moroccan laboratory. The CDC list of approved laboratories has none in Morocco, so your vet draws the blood locally and the sample is sent to an approved laboratory abroad. Allow time for the courier, the customs paperwork for a biological sample and the lab itself.
Who endorses the vet certificate in Morocco?
Morocco’s food safety office, ONSSA, handles export certification of live animals including dogs and cats. Ask your vet which ONSSA veterinary service covers your area and how it endorses the CDC certification, because this page cannot confirm the local procedure.
What does my dog need to return to Morocco?
ONSSA publishes a health certificate model for dogs and cats coming from the US and refers importers to their local veterinary service. Moroccan law asks for an official certificate issued less than 3 days before departure. Confirm the full list with ONSSA before you travel.
Ready to fill in the form?
Do it yourself, for free
The official CDC Dog Import Form is free. Use this page and fill it in on cdc.gov.
Or let us do it
We check your documents, file the form and send you the receipt. Our fee covers this service only.
Sources: CDC: Bringing a dog into the United States (opens in a new tab), CDC: High-risk countries for dog rabies (opens in a new tab), CDC: US-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries (opens in a new tab), CDC: Foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries (opens in a new tab), CDC: Approved rabies serology laboratories (opens in a new tab), CDC: Registered animal care facilities (opens in a new tab), ONSSA: Importation of live animals, dogs and cats (opens in a new tab), ONSSA: Export of live animals, dogs and cats (opens in a new tab), ONSSA: Import procedures (opens in a new tab), ONSSA: Decree 2-89-597 (veterinary police measures on import) (opens in a new tab)