Moving a pet to the United States doesn’t have one fixed price — it depends on your pet’s size, your route, and how much you handle yourself. This worksheet walks through each real cost component so you can add up your own estimate, instead of reading a general breakdown that may not match your situation.
Use this 10-minute worksheet to build your own realistic estimate using current cost ranges. It isn’t a live calculator (yet) — it’s a guided worksheet you fill in yourself, step by step.
Current as of 2026: Figures below are ranges from current sources (government fee pages, airline fee pages, and industry cost data) — always confirm your specific airline’s current fee before booking, since these change on their own schedule.
Add Up Your Own Estimate
Work through each item below and add up the ones that apply to your move.
Step 1: Government Forms
- CDC Dog Import Form (dogs only) — $0, free.
- USDA fee for entering the U.S. — $0, no fee applies to this direction (a similarly-named USDA fee exists, but only for pets leaving the U.S.).
Step 2: Veterinary Costs
- Microchip (if not already done) — $35–$60 (national average ~$48); low-cost clinics $10–$25. Add $0–$40 if a separate registry fee applies.
- Rabies vaccine (if needed) — $20–$75 for the vaccine, plus $40–$90 if a full wellness exam is required; low-cost clinics $0–$28.
- Health certificate / CVI exam — $100–$350 in a U.S. context (pricing abroad varies by country).
Step 3: Crate
- IATA-compliant travel crate — $50–$300 depending on your pet’s size.
Step 4: Airline Fee
- Cabin travel — $150–$200 per kennel, each way.
- Cargo/hold travel — $500–$3,000+, far less standardized; get a real quote from your airline.
Step 5: Optional Mover Fee
- Full-service pet relocation company — $2,000–$4,000 for simpler routes, $4,000–$8,000+ for complex or long-distance routes. Skip this line entirely if you’re managing the move yourself.
Your Estimate
Add up the boxes you checked above for your own running total. See How to Choose an International Pet Mover if you’re deciding whether Step 5 applies to you.
Printable Worksheet
Fill in your own numbers once you’ve gotten real quotes, and add them up:
Biggest Cost Drivers
Roughly ranked from biggest to smallest swing in your total:
- $$$$$ — Full-service mover ($2,000–$8,000+, only if you hire one)
- $$$$ — Cargo airline fee ($500–$3,000+, vs. $150–$200 for cabin)
- $$$ — Large crate (toward the top of the $50–$300 range for bigger pets)
- $$ — Health certificate ($100–$350)
- $ — Microchip ($10–$60)
The pattern: whether you hire a mover and whether your pet needs cargo (usually driven by size) matter far more than any single vet-visit line item.
Hidden Costs to Budget For
These rarely appear in a cost breakdown, but real movers report them adding up. None of these have a single verified figure — budget loosely, not precisely, for whichever apply to your trip:
- Overnight hotel near the airport before an early flight
- Airport parking or extra rideshare fare (some drivers charge more for a pet in a crate)
- Extra checked baggage if you’re traveling with the pet’s supplies
- Printing/copying paperwork, and translation if your origin country’s documents aren’t in English
- A transit permit, if your route includes a layover country with its own pet rules
- An import broker, on some cargo-only routes
- A follow-up vet visit if timing didn’t line up with your first appointment
- Crate hardware (extra bolts, zip ties, a replacement water dish) if your existing crate needs minor repair to meet airline specs
How to Save Money
- Get cargo quotes from more than one airline before booking — pricing is far less standardized than cabin fees, and it shows.
- Reuse an existing airline-approved crate instead of buying new, if yours already meets IATA specs.
- Book as early as possible — last-minute cargo bookings have less room to shop around.
- Skip the professional mover for a simple, low-risk-country, cabin-eligible move — that’s exactly the case DIY handles well.
- Combine your microchip, rabies vaccine, and health certificate into one vet visit where your pet’s pathway allows it.
- Ask about low-cost microchip clinics (shelters, pet-store events) instead of a full private-vet visit for that one item.
Two Worked Examples
Example 1: A domestic shorthair cat, Germany to the U.S., cabin, DIY. No CDC pathway, no mover. Health certificate + crate + cabin fee adds up to roughly $185–$685+, before any hidden costs. This is an illustrative sum of the ranges above, not a quote.
Example 2: A Golden Retriever, Brazil to the U.S., cargo, professional mover. High-risk-country pathway, larger crate, cargo fee, and a full-service mover. Vet costs + crate + cargo fee + mover fee adds up to roughly $2,700–$11,000+. Same caveat — an illustrative sum, not a quote.
Why Your Total Might Be Higher or Lower
The two biggest swing factors are your pet’s size (a larger crate and cargo fees scale up fast) and your CDC pathway (a high-risk-country dog needing a titer test and quarantine reservation adds real cost that a low-risk-country pet or a cat never faces at all). See Dog Relocation to the USA and Cat Relocation to the USA for how size and pathway play out for your specific pet.
Ready to Compare Quotes?
Once you’ve worked through the worksheet above, compare your estimate with quotes from professional pet movers. Seeing both side by side helps you decide whether handling the move yourself or hiring a mover makes more financial sense for your situation.
Get real quotes from vetted international pet movers and compare them against your own estimate.
