Military Pet Relocation Overseas: OCONUS PCS With a Pet

If you are active duty or a military spouse with orders overseas and a pet in the house, the honest bottom line is this: OCONUS moves run on a much longer clock than most PCS timelines assume, and the branch will not fully fund the trip. Start planning the moment orders look even likely, not after they are cut, because the destination country, not your report date, sets the schedule your pet has to meet.

Start the clock the moment orders look likely

A stateside PCS can come together in six to eight weeks. An OCONUS move with a pet cannot, because several destinations require a rabies titer test (FAVN or RNATT) drawn after a completed vaccination series, followed by a mandatory waiting period before the pet is eligible to enter. That combination alone can take six to seven months from blood draw to clearance, and it does not compress just because your orders arrived late or your report date got moved up. The moment you hear a posting to Japan, Hawaii, the United Kingdom, or another strict destination is even on the table, get your pet's microchip current, confirm the rabies vaccination is not expiring mid-process, ask your veterinarian to draw the titer sample, and review the current USDA APHIS export requirements for your destination. If the titer comes back low, you will need a booster and a second draw, which can burn another month or more, and the waiting-period clock restarts from that new draw date, not the first one. Waiting for orders to be signed before you start is the single most common reason military families end up boarding a pet stateside indefinitely, paying for a delayed shipment months after the family has already moved, or scrambling for an expensive last-minute private shipper who may not even have capacity on short notice. Talk to your sponsor or the losing installation's veterinary treatment facility as soon as a posting is rumored, not confirmed, since a head start of even a few weeks can be the difference between the pet traveling with the family and the pet traveling months later.

Short notice orders versus long lead time destinations

This is the core tension of an OCONUS PCS with a pet: the military often issues orders on a short-notice operational timeline built around mission needs, while the destination country runs on its own fixed regulatory timeline that does not care how fast your report date is. Japan's Animal Quarantine Service requires an advance import notification and, depending on your pet's prior vaccination and titer history, can require up to 180 days of quarantine preparation if the paperwork was not started early enough; done correctly well ahead of time, many pets instead clear in a short quarantine window on arrival. Hawaii, technically a US state but with its own rabies-free-island rules, has a five-day-or-less program that is only available if every requirement, including the titer and its waiting period, is completed and verified before the pet lands; miss a single step and the pet can face a much longer quarantine stay at the owner's expense, sometimes lasting weeks. The United Kingdom's pet travel scheme has its own strict sequencing of microchip, vaccination, and titer that must happen in the correct order, microchip first, then vaccination, then the titer draw, or the clock resets entirely and you start over. None of these timelines bend for military urgency, an emergency leave, or a compressed report date. Check the specific quarantine and entry rules for your destination as soon as you have a projected duty station, even before orders are final, and build your veterinary schedule backward from that country's requirements rather than forward from your household goods pickup date.

On base pet policies and slot limits

Even after your pet clears the destination country's import rules, base housing has its own separate layer of restrictions that families often discover too late, sometimes only after arrival. Overseas installations frequently cap the number and size of pets allowed per household, restrict certain breeds and mixes (commonly large or bully-type breeds, and sometimes breed lists tied to local host-nation law rather than US Department of Defense policy), and require proof of current vaccinations plus microchip registration before move-in is approved. Some OCONUS installations also cap total pet weight combined per household rather than per animal, which matters if you are relocating multiple pets at once, and a few limit households to a single dog or cat regardless of size. Housing offices post these rules, but they vary by base and by host nation, so confirm the current policy for your specific installation directly with the base housing office and the veterinary treatment facility, if one exists on base, well before your move rather than after your household goods are already packed and your old lease is terminated. If your pet does not meet the installation's on-base policy, you may need to arrange off-base host-nation housing that allows it, which adds its own lease negotiation, host-nation registration paperwork, and often higher rent.

The Patriot Express and its pet limits

Air Mobility Command's Patriot Express charter flights, which many OCONUS-bound service members and families use for at least part of the journey, have limited pet capacity per flight, and space is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis alongside space-available passenger seating rather than guaranteed for every traveling pet. Small pets that fit in an in-cabin carrier under the seat have one set of rules and a strict per-flight cap; larger pets that must travel as excess baggage or cargo in the belly hold have another, including size and weight limits for the kennel and temperature restrictions that can bump a pet off a flight entirely during hot or cold weather embargoes common on many routes. Because Patriot Express pet space is limited and not guaranteed, many families end up booking their pet on a separate commercial flight timed close to their own travel dates, or hiring an IPATA-registered international pet shipper to handle the export paperwork, crate, and flight logistics independently of the family's own itinerary. If a commercial or private shipper route is even a possibility for your move, get a quote and a tentative schedule early, since availability tightens fastest during the summer PCS season when the most families are moving at once. Waiting to see if a Patriot Express seat opens up is a real risk with a hard deadline attached, since your report date at the new duty station does not move even if the flight does not have room.

Who pays: reimbursement is limited

Plan on real out-of-pocket cost. Current military pet relocation reimbursement is capped well below what a full OCONUS move with a pet typically costs, particularly once you add the rabies titer test, an internationally accepted health certificate, USDA endorsement of that certificate, an IATA-compliant travel crate, and any commercial or private-shipper airfare on top of the pet's own preparation. A full-service international relocation for one pet commonly runs roughly $1,000 to $5,000 or more depending on the destination, the pet's size, and whether you use a professional shipper, and multiple pets multiply nearly every line item since titers, health certificates, and crates are priced per animal, not per household. Save every receipt tied to your pet's move, including vet visits, the titer test, the health certificate, the endorsement fee, the crate, and the transport or shipper invoice, and confirm with your installation's finance office or PCS counselor exactly what the current reimbursement policy covers and caps before you spend, since policies are updated periodically and vary by service branch and by pay grade in some cases. Budgeting for the gap between what you are reimbursed and what the move actually costs, rather than assuming it will be fully covered, avoids an unpleasant and expensive surprise close to your report date, when there is little room left to adjust the plan.

Documenting everything for housing and customs

Build a single paper and digital folder for your pet's move and keep it with your other PCS orders, not buried in email. It should hold the microchip registration confirmation, every rabies vaccination certificate going back at least a year, the titer test results and the lab's report date, the USDA-endorsed health certificate, proof of the destination country's import notification if one was required, and a copy of the current on-base or host-nation housing pet policy for your specific duty station. Overseas customs officials and base housing offices both ask for slightly different documents, and having everything in one place prevents a missing form from delaying your pet's release at the airport or your housing move-in date. If you hire a professional shipper, they will typically manage and submit most of this paperwork directly, but you should still keep your own copy of everything, since you are the one who will need it again at your next PCS, particularly a future move back to CONUS.

Building your OCONUS pet timeline

Because the destination sets the pace, not your orders, it helps to work backward from your arrival date rather than forward from today. Use the table below as a starting frame for common OCONUS assignments, then confirm the exact current requirement on the destination government's own page, since rules and processing times are updated periodically and can differ for dogs versus cats.

OCONUS destination | Typical planning lead time | Entry or quarantine note
Japan | 7 to 8 months | Advance import notification required; incomplete pre-planning can trigger up to 180 days of quarantine on arrival
Hawaii (US, but strict) | 4 to 6 months | Five-day-or-less program if every titer and paperwork step is completed and verified in advance; longer quarantine if not
United Kingdom | 5 to 7 months | Microchip, rabies vaccination, and titer must happen in a strict sequence; out-of-order steps reset the waiting period
Germany and most of continental Europe | 1 to 3 months | Rabies-free entry for pets from the US with a valid rabies vaccination and USDA-endorsed EU health certificate; no titer required for most pets
South Korea | 2 to 3 months | Microchip and rabies vaccination required with a valid health certificate; advance notice to Korean animal quarantine recommended

Treat these as planning ranges, not guarantees, since a specific base or a specific pet's vaccination history can shift the timeline. The moment you have even a projected duty station, pull the destination country's current official requirements and set your veterinary appointments against that country's calendar rather than your household goods pickup date. If your report date and the destination's minimum lead time genuinely do not fit, that is the moment to talk to your sponsor and your unit about options, including whether the pet travels later on a separate ticket once fully cleared, or whether a family member can bring the pet on a follow-on trip.

Deciding between DIY and a professional shipper

A short, straightforward move to a rabies-free-entry country with no titer requirement, like most of continental Europe from the US, is realistic to handle yourself if you have the time to manage the paperwork sequence correctly and your unit's timeline allows it. A move to a strict destination like Japan, Hawaii, or the UK, especially on a compressed military timeline layered on top of packing a household and out-processing a duty station, is where a professional shipper earns its fee. An IPATA-registered international pet shipper tracks the destination's exact current requirements, manages the titer and waiting-period sequencing so nothing is drawn out of order, books IATA-compliant crates and flights including when the Patriot Express does not have space, and handles customs clearance on arrival so you are not standing at a foreign airport with an anxious pet and incomplete paperwork. Given how unforgiving the quarantine consequences are for a missed step or an out-of-order titer draw, many military families conclude the cost of a professional shipper is worth avoiding a multi-week quarantine bill, a pet left behind on report date, or a housing move-in delayed because paperwork was not in order.

A word on sedation and pet comfort

Do not sedate a pet for the flight portion of an OCONUS move without direct veterinary guidance, and never on your own judgment based on something read online. Both the American Veterinary Medical Association and IATA advise against sedating pets for air travel because sedation can affect breathing and balance at altitude, and some airlines and the Patriot Express itself will refuse to board a visibly sedated animal, which can strand a pet on move day. If your pet has significant travel anxiety, talk to your veterinarian well before your flight date about non-sedative options and crate-conditioning time, which is one more reason to start the process early rather than in the final stressful weeks before report date, when there is no longer room to work through anxiety gradually.

For a domestic PCS without the international layer of paperwork, the process and cost look different; see military pet transport for stateside moves for that comparison. And if this overseas tour eventually brings your family and pet back to the United States, the return trip has its own rules and worksheet at moving to the US with a pet.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance should I start planning a pet's move for an OCONUS PCS?

As soon as a posting looks even likely, ideally seven to eight months out for strict destinations like Japan or the United Kingdom, since the rabies titer test and its waiting period alone can take six to seven months and cannot be rushed once started.

Does the military fully pay for shipping a pet overseas?

No. Reimbursement is capped and typically covers only part of the real cost once you add the titer test, health certificate, USDA endorsement, an IATA-compliant crate, and flight or shipper fees, which commonly total $1,000 to $5,000 or more per pet. Confirm the current cap with your installation's finance or PCS office and budget for the gap.

Is there guaranteed space for my pet on the Patriot Express?

No. Patriot Express pet space is limited and allocated alongside space-available passenger seating, not guaranteed for every traveling pet. Many families book a separate commercial flight or hire an international pet shipper to remove that uncertainty from a hard-deadline move.

Are there breed or size restrictions on overseas base housing?

Often yes, and they vary by installation and host nation. Some OCONUS bases cap the number, size, or combined weight of pets per household and restrict certain breeds. Confirm the current policy directly with your specific base housing office before your move, not after your household goods ship.

What is the biggest mistake military families make moving a pet OCONUS?

Waiting for orders to be signed before starting the veterinary process. Because destinations like Japan, Hawaii, and the UK run on a fixed regulatory timeline, often six to seven months for the titer and its waiting period, starting late is the most common reason pets end up boarded stateside or facing an extended quarantine on arrival.