Why You Should Get an EU Pet Passport

If you plan on living in or traveling to Europe with a pet, it makes sense to get the proper documentation. An EU Pet Passport ensures that your pet meets all the requirements for travel within the European Union. It can also help save time when you travel to other countries.

In addition, an EU Pet Passport stores all your relevant pet history and documentation in a single location, including vet, vaccinations, microchip number, parasite treatment, etc.

Follow the easy steps below to get a certificate issued EU Pet Passport for your pet from a licensed veterinarian.

Step 1: Find an EU Veterinarian

Many travelers are confused and think that an EU Pet Passport is something they need before traveling to Europe. This is not the case. You get the passport after your arrival in Europe. As soon as you can, find an EU veterinarian. Don’t delay because some paperwork expires.

Finding a veterinarian on the road isn’t as tough or scary as it might sound. We’ve been to dozens all over the world and have had pleasant experiences. We have a few tactics we use while locating a quality veterinarian abroad.

Google is the best place to start. Look for a vet that has high ratings and speaks English. Not all veterinarians list the languages they speak, so be sure to look through the reviews to find someone who may have commented on this. We’ve actually found that many veterinarians do speak English.

Another good resource are Facebook expat groups for the city in which you will be staying. They have more experience with the city and can tell you whether the veterinarian speaks your language.

Step 2: Veterinarian Visit

It’s simple to obtain the EU Pet Passport if you’ve got all your documentation. Most of the paperwork will be the same as what you used to import your pet. You’ll need to have the following paperwork ready to be provided to the vet:

Pets rabies vaccination or rabies booster certificate
Any tapeworm treatment
Country Official Veterinary Certificate. This what you would have used to enter the EU with your pet. If you’re coming from the United States, this would be the health certificate from your local veterinarian
Any blood tests or other paperwork you want documented in the Passport
Your local address
Your passport

These are the documents required to fly internationally with your pet, so you should already have them in order. Generally, your documents should not be older than 21 days. Note that most veterinarians will not “certify” records that were performed by another veterinarian.

In the three times we’ve gone to get EU Pet Passports, they’ve all cost less than 50€ and took fewer than 30 minutes. We just show up without an appointment and the vet tech at reception completes the paperwork for us.

Advantages of an EU Pet Passport

When pets are traveling through EU countries, they’re supposed to be documented and have official papers like their human companions. For travel outside the EU, it’s important to remember that having a pet passport gives you the ability to reenter the EU without issue. That means you don’t have to obtain new export papers, shots, and go through the painstaking process all over again. Essentially, you’re free to travel and now you’ve got one place to store all of your pet’s records.

What does an EU Pet Passport Contain?

There is a ton of information inside the little blue book including:

Details of ownership (name, address, passport number, telephone, etc.)
Description of the animal (name, species, breed, date of birth, etc.)
Microchip number and details
Veterinarian details issuing the passport
Vaccination against rabies
Rabies antibody titer test approval
Anti-echinococcus treatment records
Other parasite treatment records
Other vaccinations and treatment records

All records are signed and marked by your veterinarian with official stamps of the medication that was used.

Things to Consider

Your EU Pet Passport does not require a photo of your pet, and you’re completely free to add one if you like.

When traveling outside of Europe, do not have unofficial, non-EU veterinarians write or document records in the passport. We made this mistake with Sora’s and while nothing happened, the USDA official informed us that this invalidates the whole passport. Alternatively, staple in the official signed paper copy of any vaccinations or other treatments performed by a non-EU vet.

We’ve used the EU pet passport for traveling in South America and back to the US. Though issued in Europe, it still simplified border crossings because all of the necessary documentation was in one place.