Every dog entering or returning to the United States needs to meet a rabies-related requirement of some kind. Which one depends on where your dog has been in the last 6 months and where it was vaccinated.
Cats are different. There is no federal rabies vaccination requirement for cats entering the US at all — a distinction worth knowing early, since it’s easy to assume the dog rules apply to every pet.
Current as of 2026: CDC’s dog rabies-import rules have changed more than once in the last two years, most recently with a July 31, 2025 cutoff affecting which export certificates still qualify. Check the CDC dog import requirements directly before you travel, since a rule that was current last year may not be current now.
The Short Answer: What Does Your Dog Need?
Your dog’s rabies requirement depends on two things: where it has been in the 6 months before entering the US, and where it received its rabies vaccine.
- If your dog has been only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries for the last 6 months, it needs no rabies vaccination documents at all — just the free CDC Dog Import Form.
- If your dog has been in a high-risk country and was vaccinated in the US, it needs the CDC Dog Import Form plus a Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form.
- If your dog has been in a high-risk country and was vaccinated outside the US, it needs a foreign vaccination certificate, a passing rabies titer test (or a 28-day quarantine instead), and a reservation at a CDC-registered facility.
Every dog, on every pathway, also needs to appear healthy on arrival, be at least 6 months old, and have a microchip that a universal scanner can read, implanted before the rabies vaccine was given.
Do Cats Need a Rabies Vaccine to Enter the US?
No. CDC does not require proof of rabies vaccination for cats entering the United States. A cat only needs to appear healthy at the port of entry — it can be examined, or in rare cases denied entry, if it shows signs of illness.
CDC still recommends vaccinating cats against rabies, and your destination state may have its own separate rule once your cat is living there. But there is no federal document, titer test, or quarantine requirement tied to a cat’s rabies status the way there is for dogs.
The Three Rabies Pathways for Dogs
Every dog entering the US falls into exactly one of three pathways. Figuring out which one applies to your dog is the first real step in planning your trip.
| Pathway | Who it applies to | What’s required | Where the dog may enter the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rabies-free or low-risk countries only | Dog has been only in low-risk countries for 6 months | CDC Dog Import Form only | Any airport, seaport, or land border crossing |
| US-vaccinated, high-risk country | Dog vaccinated in the US, later visited a high-risk country | CDC Dog Import Form + Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination | Any airport, seaport, or land border crossing (must match the form) |
| Foreign-vaccinated, high-risk country | Dog vaccinated outside the US, has been in a high-risk country | Foreign vaccination certificate + passing titer (or 28-day quarantine) + CDC-registered facility reservation | Only the specific airport where the reserved facility is located |
Check CDC’s list of high-risk countries for dog rabies to see whether any country your dog has visited in the last 6 months applies. If a country isn’t on that list, it’s treated as rabies-free or low-risk.
Pathway 1: Only in Rabies-Free or Low-Risk Countries
This is the simplest pathway, and it applies to most dogs traveling from Western Europe, Canada, and many other countries not on CDC’s high-risk list.
If your dog has been only in dog rabies-free or low-risk countries in the 6 months before entering the US, you need only:
- A completed CDC Dog Import Form receipt (free, submitted online).
- A dog that appears healthy on arrival.
- A dog at least 6 months old.
- A readable microchip.
No rabies vaccination certificate is required at all under this pathway. The form receipt is valid for 6 months and multiple entries, as long as your dog doesn’t visit a high-risk country or change its country of departure in the meantime. If your dog’s travel pattern changes — say, a trip that adds a stop in a different low-risk country — you’ll need a new form listing that country as the departure point.
Pathway 2: Vaccinated in the US, Visited a High-Risk Country
This pathway applies if your dog received its rabies vaccine in the United States and has since spent time in a high-risk country — a common situation for a US resident’s dog returning from an international trip.
You’ll need two documents:
- The CDC Dog Import Form receipt.
- A Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form, completed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by USDA before your dog leaves the United States.
This certification form is not the same as the ordinary rabies certificate your vet gives you for local registration — it’s a specific CDC/USDA document, and it has to be arranged before departure, not after your dog is already abroad.
As an alternative, CDC will accept a USDA-endorsed export health certificate — but only if it was issued no later than July 31, 2025. A certificate issued after that date no longer qualifies, even if it otherwise meets every content requirement. If your dog doesn’t have either document, you’ll need to follow the stricter foreign-vaccinated pathway below instead.
If this is your dog’s first rabies vaccine, it must be given at least 28 days before you leave the US, and the certification form can’t be completed until at least 28 days after the vaccine. A booster given with no lapse in prior coverage is considered valid immediately, with no waiting period.
Pathway 3: Vaccinated Outside the US (Foreign-Vaccinated)
This is the strictest pathway, and it’s the one most international routes on this site walk through country by country. It applies to a dog vaccinated outside the US that has been in a high-risk country in the last 6 months.
You’ll need all of the following:
- A Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, completed by a veterinarian and endorsed by an official government veterinarian in the exporting country. It must be completed no more than 30 days before travel.
- A passing rabies serology titer, or a 28-day quarantine at a CDC-registered Animal Care Facility instead.
- A reservation at a CDC-registered Animal Care Facility (ACF) — this always includes an exam and revaccination, and includes the 28-day quarantine only if there’s no passing titer.
- Direct arrival by air at the specific airport where your reserved ACF is located.
- The CDC Dog Import Form receipt.
Timing the Titer Test
The titer timeline is usually what sets your overall planning window on this pathway. The blood sample has to be drawn at least 30 days after your dog’s first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before entering the US — a minimum of roughly 58 days between vaccination and travel. If your dog already has a documented history of valid vaccinations with no lapse in coverage, the sample can be drawn any time after a booster, as long as the original first vaccination was at least 30 days before the draw.
The sample has to go to a CDC-approved rabies serology laboratory — CDC will not accept results from any other lab. A passing titer stays valid for the life of your dog as long as vaccination coverage never lapses and the lab stays CDC-approved. If coverage lapses, you’re back to a new vaccine and a new titer, drawn at least 30 days after the new dose.
CDC’s own published guidance does not state a single public numeric pass/fail cutoff for the titer on its consumer-facing pages — the CDC-approved laboratory determines whether a result passes. If you’ve seen a specific number quoted elsewhere, confirm it directly with the lab handling your dog’s sample rather than treating it as an official published figure.
CDC-Registered Animal Care Facilities
Foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries must land at the specific airport where their reserved facility is located — not any other airport, and not at a land border crossing. As of this writing, CDC lists facilities at Atlanta (ATL), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York/JFK (JFK — must land at JFK specifically, not Newark or LaGuardia), Philadelphia (PHL), and Washington DC/Dulles (IAD).
This list can change, so confirm the current facilities and contact each one directly before booking flights. All costs at the facility — the exam, revaccination, and quarantine if needed — are your responsibility as the importer; ask the specific facility for current pricing.
Reserve your facility before you book flights, not after. Facility availability is one of the most common planning bottlenecks on this pathway — a facility with no open reservation slot near your intended travel date can force you to shift your entire trip.
There’s one narrow exception: a qualifying service dog (as legally defined, not an emotional support animal) traveling with the person it assists may arrive by sea without an ACF reservation, but must still meet every other requirement for its pathway.
Minimum Age for a Dog’s First Rabies Vaccine
Your dog’s first rabies vaccination must be given on or after 12 weeks (84 days) of age, or per the vaccine manufacturer’s label if it’s licensed for older puppies. If your dog has been in a high-risk country in the last 6 months, a vaccine given before 12 weeks won’t be accepted for import purposes, no matter what the manufacturer’s label allows. This age rule applies the same way across all three pathways.
Where Your Dog Can Enter the US
Your pathway also decides which ports of entry are open to you.
- Rabies-free or low-risk country dogs can enter at any airport, seaport, or land border crossing.
- US-vaccinated, high-risk-country dogs can also enter at any airport, seaport, or land border crossing, as long as it matches the port listed on the CDC Dog Import Form receipt.
- Foreign-vaccinated, high-risk-country dogs can only enter at the specific airport where their reserved CDC-registered facility is located. Land border entry is not allowed on this pathway.
Rabies Vaccination Timing Checklist
Use this before your final documents are issued, especially if your dog is on the foreign-vaccinated pathway:
- Confirm which of the 3 pathways applies to your dog.
- Confirm the microchip was implanted before the rabies vaccine.
- Confirm your dog’s first rabies vaccine was given on or after 12 weeks of age.
- If on the foreign-vaccinated pathway, schedule the titer blood draw at least 30 days after vaccination.
- Confirm the titer sample is going to a CDC-approved laboratory.
- Book the titer draw so results arrive at least 28 days before travel.
- Reserve your CDC-registered Animal Care Facility, if required, before booking flights.
- Confirm your arrival airport matches your ACF reservation and CDC Dog Import Form.
- Complete the CDC Dog Import Form close to your travel date.
- Double-check your export health certificate’s issue date if relying on one instead of a new certification form.
Common Rabies Vaccination Mistakes
Assuming a booster resets the whole waiting period
A booster given with no lapse in coverage is valid immediately for the US-vaccinated pathway. Don’t add an unnecessary 28-day wait if your dog’s vaccination history is already current.
Drawing the titer sample too early or too late
A sample drawn before 30 days post-vaccination, or fewer than 28 days before travel, doesn’t meet the requirement. Recheck both ends of the window before scheduling the vet visit.
Relying on an export health certificate issued after July 31, 2025
This certificate no longer qualifies as a substitute for the Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form, even if it looks complete in every other way.
Treating a titer number found online as an official CDC cutoff
CDC’s own pages don’t publish one. Confirm what counts as passing directly with the CDC-approved lab handling the sample.
Booking a flight before confirming the ACF reservation
A foreign-vaccinated dog can only land at its reserved facility’s airport. Reserve the facility first, then book travel around it.
