Bringing a dog to the US from a low-risk country

In short

• “Low risk” means your dog has not been in any high-risk country in the last 6 months. CDC only lists the high-risk ones: every other country counts as low risk.
• Your dog needs: the CDC Dog Import Form receipt, an age of at least 6 months, a readable microchip and to look healthy on arrival.
• No rabies certificate, no blood test, no photo, no microchip number on the form, no animal care facility.
• Your dog can arrive at any airport, seaport or land crossing. The receipt is valid for 6 months, for multiple entries from the same departure country.

What “low risk” means

CDC sorts countries by the risk of dog rabies, a form of rabies that spreads between dogs. The United States eliminated it in 2007, and the import rules exist to keep it out.

CDC publishes one list only: the high-risk countries. Any country or territory that is not on that list counts as “dog-rabies free or low risk”. There is no separate list to check.

The question is not where you live, or where you board the plane. It is everywhere your dog has been in the last 6 months. If all of those places are off the high-risk list, your dog follows the low-risk pathway described on this page.

Which countries are low risk?

Examples of countries that are not on the CDC high-risk list:

• North America: Canada, Mexico.
• Europe: the countries of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway.
• Asia and the Pacific: Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand.

A few traps:

• Spain is low risk, but Ceuta and Melilla, the Spanish cities in North Africa, are on the high-risk list.
• China is high risk, but Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are not.
• Several popular holiday spots are high risk: Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Brazil.

So if your dog lives in France but spent a weekend in Morocco in March, it is not a low-risk dog until 6 months have passed since that weekend. The full list, with these special cases, is in high-risk countries for dog rabies.

What your dog needs

For a dog that has only been in low-risk countries, CDC requires four things:

1. The CDC Dog Import Form receipt. It is the only document CDC requires. The form is free on cdc.gov (opens in a new tab) and takes a few minutes. One form per dog.
2. At least 6 months of age on the day of arrival.
3. A microchip that a universal scanner can read. The form does not ask for its number, but the dog must have one. See age and microchip rules.
4. Good health on arrival. The dog must appear healthy. Airlines must refuse dogs that look sick.

What your dog does not need (for CDC)

This is the part most travelers find surprising. For the low-risk pathway, CDC does not ask for:

• a rabies vaccination certificate;
• a rabies titer test (a blood test that measures rabies antibodies);
• a vet health certificate;
• a photo of your dog;
• the microchip number on the form;
• a reservation at an animal care facility;
• a specific arrival airport.

When and how to fill in the form

You can fill in the form whenever you like, even on the day you travel. CDC suggests doing it between a few days and 6 months before the trip, so you have time to fix any problem.

The low-risk form is short: no photo, no microchip number, no vet document and no port of entry. The receipt arrives by email once you confirm your address. Show it, printed or on your phone, to the airline before boarding and to US Customs and Border Protection on arrival.

The walkthrough of each section is in the CDC Dog Import Form, step by step.

Any port, several trips

A low-risk dog can enter the United States at any airport, seaport or land border crossing. Flying into Newark, driving across from Canada at Blaine or arriving in Miami by ship are all fine.

The receipt is valid for 6 months from the day it is issued, for multiple entries, as long as:

• the dog keeps leaving from the same country named on the receipt;
• the dog does not spend time in a high-risk country in the meantime.

Change of departure country? You need a new form. Driving across the land border from Canada or Mexico has a few extra points (for Mexico, a USDA screwworm certificate): see crossing the land border with a dog. All the details of reuse and expiry are in how long the receipt is valid.

When a low-risk dog becomes high risk

Your dog switches to the high-risk rules the moment it has been in a high-risk country within the last 6 months. That includes a short stay, a holiday, or a layover where the dog cleared customs in a high-risk country (see layovers and connecting flights).

The high-risk rules need weeks or months of preparation, so check the list before you plan a side trip with your dog, not after.