Moving to the US With a Pet: The Complete Inbound Guide

This guide is for anyone bringing a dog, cat, or other pet into the United States from abroad, whether you are a returning American, a new immigrant, or an expat coming home after years overseas. The honest bottom line: dogs face real federal paperwork that has to be filed before you land, cats face almost none, and the method you choose to move your pet (in the cabin with you, as checked baggage, or through a professional international shipper) depends more on your pet's size, temperament, and your origin country than on price alone.

Start here: deciding how your pet is coming with you

Before you touch a single form, work out three things: which country your pet is traveling from, whether your airline will carry that species on your route, and how much lead time you actually have. Rabies status of the origin country, your pet's age and size, and whether you are flying direct or connecting through a third country all change your options. A small, healthy, well-crated dog or cat from a low-risk country can often fly in the cabin or as checked baggage on the same flight as its owner. A large dog, a nervous traveler, an unaccompanied move, or a pet coming from a country the CDC classifies as high-risk for dog rabies usually needs more planning and, often, professional help. If you want the full step-by-step process rather than the situational overview here, read how to relocate a pet internationally, which walks through the sequence from first vet visit to touchdown.

It also helps to be honest early about your pet's temperament and health. A confident young cat that already tolerates a carrier is a very different logistics problem than a senior dog with anxiety, mobility issues, or a heart condition that makes a long flight risky. None of this is a reason to leave a pet behind, but it does change whether you fly commercial with your pet, book a pet-only cargo flight, or hire a shipper who specializes in complex cases. Start planning as early as you can, since some of the paperwork below, especially anything involving a rabies titer test tied to a prior international stop, runs on a clock measured in months, not days.

US entry rules at a glance: dogs versus cats

The single biggest thing to understand about moving to the US with a pet is that dogs and cats are treated very differently at the federal level. As of the CDC's 2024 rule change, every dog entering the United States, regardless of where it is coming from, must be at least 6 months old, carry an ISO-compatible microchip that a standard scanner can read, and appear healthy at the port of entry. The importer (usually the owner) must also complete the online CDC Dog Import Form before the dog arrives, which generates a receipt you should carry with your other travel documents. What happens next depends on your dog's travel history: if the dog has spent the past 6 months only in countries the CDC considers free of or low risk for dog rabies, the import form alone is typically enough. If the dog was in a high-risk country for rabies within that window, you will also need proof of a valid rabies vaccination, and in some cases a US-issued vaccination certificate arranged before you left, so check the current CDC guidance for your specific origin country well ahead of travel.

Cats have it far easier. The CDC does not require a rabies certificate or an import permit for pet cats entering the US, and the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has no separate federal import requirements for cats either. Rabies vaccination is still strongly recommended for your cat's own protection and because some US states require it once you land, so do not skip it just because the federal government does not ask for proof. Every pet, dog or cat, is still subject to a basic visual health check by Customs and Border Protection at the port of entry, and an animal that appears sick can be held for an exam at the owner's expense. None of this is legal advice: rules change, so confirm the current requirement on the CDC and APHIS pages for your specific circumstances before you travel, and loop in a USDA-accredited veterinarian for anything unusual.

One nuance worth flagging: the federal rules above are a floor, not the whole picture. Individual US states can layer their own entry and licensing rules on top, particularly around rabies vaccination proof and local registration once you have moved in, and a handful of states have breed-specific restrictions that have nothing to do with international travel at all. If you are heading somewhere with unusually strict state rules, or your pet is a breed some jurisdictions restrict, it is worth a quick check of your destination state's own animal health authority before you finalize your travel dates, since federal clearance to enter the country does not automatically clear every state or local hurdle waiting on the other end.

Flying with your pet versus hiring an international shipper

Most single-pet, single-owner moves can fly on the same flight as the owner, either in the cabin (small pets under the airline's carrier size limit) or as checked baggage or cargo for a larger dog. This is usually the cheapest route and keeps you with your pet the whole way, but it depends on the airline actually offering pet transport on your specific route, since many carriers have paused or limited live animal transport in recent years, and on your dog not being a brachycephalic breed many airlines restrict for safety reasons, covered in our guide to snub-nosed breed flying bans. A professional international shipper earns its fee when the move gets complicated: an unaccompanied pet, a large or anxious dog, a connecting itinerary through a third country with its own transit rules, or simply not having the bandwidth to manage paperwork, crate compliance, and a multi-leg journey yourself. An IPATA-registered shipper can handle export paperwork on the origin end, book IATA-compliant crates, arrange flights, clear customs, and deliver your pet to your new US address. If you are weighing the two options in detail, our DIY relocation versus hiring a company comparison breaks down the cost and risk tradeoffs. Whichever route you pick, never sedate a pet for air travel on your own: the American Veterinary Medical Association and IATA both advise against sedating pets for flights because it can suppress breathing and heart rate at altitude, and most airlines will refuse a visibly sedated animal.

What it typically costs to bring a pet to the US

Costs vary widely by pet size, origin country, and how much of the work you hand off, but a realistic full-service international move commonly runs somewhere in the range of $1,000 to $5,000 or more per pet once you add up the health certificate, any required titer testing, an IATA-compliant crate, the airline or cargo fee, and a shipper's service fee if you hire one. Flying with a small pet in the cabin yourself is usually the cheapest end of that range, often just an airline pet fee plus the cost of a vet visit and paperwork. A large dog traveling as manifest cargo, an unaccompanied pet, or a move from a country with strict rabies-titer requirements pushes toward the higher end, since crate size, cargo weight, and the extra lab and courier steps for a titer test all add up. Treat any number you see, including the range here, as a planning estimate rather than a quote: get an actual quote from your airline or a shipper once you know your pet's weight, crate size, and route.

Every inbound move is a little different

The rules above are the same for everyone, but how you get there changes a lot depending on why you are moving. If you are the one leaving the US in the other direction, see our companion guides on moving abroad with a cat or moving overseas for work with a pet for the outbound side of the equation. A job relocation often comes with a tight corporate timeline that collides with the reality that rabies-free or strict destinations can need 6 to 7 months of lead time for titer testing, so if your company is moving you and your pet internationally, plan the pet's paperwork on its own clock, not the movers' clock. Retirees choosing a one-way move abroad face a slower, more deliberate version of the same planning, covered in retiring abroad with a pet, while students weighing whether to bring a pet to a semester abroad at all should read studying abroad with a pet before committing.

If you are the one coming home, whether you are a returning American citizen or an immigrant bringing a pet acquired overseas, moving back to the US with a pet walks through the re-entry side specifically, including what changes if your dog spent time in a high-risk rabies country while you were posted abroad. Military families on OCONUS orders face their own layer of scheduling around government moves and on-base pet policies, detailed in military pet relocation overseas, and if your move involves a government-coordinated transfer, the US State Department's guidance on traveling with pets is worth reading too, since it is blunt about the limits of what official channels can do for an animal in a crisis and why a solid personal plan matters. Anyone adopting or importing a rescue dog found in another country should read bringing a rescue dog from overseas first, since this is also where a lot of the scam risk in international pet transport shows up. Households moving more than one animal at once should see relocating internationally with multiple pets for how paperwork, cost, and crate logistics multiply per pet. And once you know your situation, our international pet relocation checklist turns all of this into a dated countdown you can actually follow.

The dog-specific paperwork, in more depth

If your pet is a dog, the CDC Dog Import Form and its underlying rabies-risk logic are the part worth getting exactly right, because a missing or incomplete submission can mean your dog is denied entry, quarantined, or sent back at your expense. We cover the mechanics of that form, the high-risk country list, and the documentation trail step by step in importing a dog into the US, which is worth reading in full if a dog is part of your move. The short version here: file the form online before you travel, keep the confirmation receipt with your other documents, and if your dog has been anywhere the CDC lists as high risk for dog rabies in the past 6 months, start the vaccination and documentation process months, not weeks, before your flight.

Arrival and settling your pet in

On arrival, expect a straightforward visual inspection at the port of entry rather than a lengthy process for most healthy, properly documented pets. Keep your dog's Dog Import Form receipt, rabies paperwork if applicable, and any health certificate accessible, not buried in checked luggage. Give your pet a low-key first day or two: a long flight or drive, a new microbiome of smells, and a new home is genuinely disorienting, and vets generally recommend a quiet decompression period before introducing a full new routine, new people, or other pets. Book a visit with a US veterinarian in your new area within the first couple of weeks, both to establish care and to confirm your pet's vaccination and microchip records are recognized locally, since some states layer their own rabies and licensing rules on top of the federal baseline. If you are settling in for the long term rather than passing through, this is also the point to register your pet's microchip to your new US address so it stays findable if it ever gets lost.

Give yourself grace during the first few weeks too. Jet lag, a new climate, unfamiliar food and water, and a completely different set of household sounds and smells all take a real toll on a pet even when the paperwork went perfectly. Watch for signs of stress like appetite changes, hiding, or unusual vocalizing, and keep your new vet's contact on hand rather than waiting for a routine appointment if something seems off. Most pets settle into a new US home within a few weeks once a predictable routine, feeding schedule, and safe space are in place, and by the time the novelty wears off, the international move that felt so daunting in the planning stage is usually just a story you tell.

Frequently asked questions