A practical 2026 guide to moving pets from Turkey to the United States — CDC high-risk country rules, the USDA FMD precaution, Turkey’s export process, Turkish Airlines options, costs, and timeline.
Everything you need to navigate international pet relocation: import rules, customs, costs, timelines.
Difficult (foreign-vaccinated dogs) / Moderate (US-vaccinated dogs) / Easy (cats)
12–16 weeks
No authoritative total verified — varies significantly depending on the titer vs. quarantine pathway
Conditional — 28 days (dogs without a titer)
Turkey is on CDC’s high-risk list for dog rabies, which means a dog can’t use the simple low-risk pathway. Instead, your dog needs a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility regardless of titer result, and either a passing rabies serology titer or the mandatory 28-day quarantine there. Cats aren’t affected by CDC’s high-risk rules, though Turkey’s own departure requirements still apply to them.
A practical 2026 guide to moving pets from Turkey to the United States — CDC high-risk country rules, the USDA FMD precaution, Turkey’s export process, Turkish Airlines options, costs, and timeline.
Turkey's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, through district/provincial offices, issues its own export health certificate for every departing dog and cat. Dogs additionally need a CDC-specified certification — the Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form for a Turkey-vaccinated dog.
Turkish Government Veterinary Office (dogs and cats) and Your Dog's Veterinarian, Endorsed by an Official Government Veterinarian (CDC form, dogs)
Turkey’s national export instruction requires an in-person visit to your district Tarım ve Orman Müdürlüğü office, where an official veterinarian issues the certificate no earlier than 48 hours before departure, for every departing dog and cat. The CDC’s Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form (dogs only) is completed by your dog’s own veterinarian and must be endorsed by an official government veterinarian in Turkey — the same district office satisfies this role.
Not Required (FMD Precaution Only)
USDA APHIS’s own dog-country disease-status tool lists Turkey as “not free” for foot-and-mouth disease and “free” for screwworm. The FMD listing means dogs from Turkey should be bathed on arrival and kept separate from livestock for 5 days — no documentation is required. Turkey’s screwworm-free listing means the USDA screwworm certificate some other high-risk routes (like Thailand) need does not apply here.
30 Days (CDC Foreign Rabies Certification)
The Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form must be completed no more than 30 days before travel and is valid for one entry within 30 days of signing.
Printed
The signed, endorsed CDC certification form and Turkey’s export certificate must be printed and travel with your dog — CDC requires the printed, signed document to be shown to the airline and to Customs and Border Protection on arrival.
→ Turkey is on CDC’s high-risk list for dog rabies
→ USDA lists Turkey as not free of FMD, but free of screwworm
→ Foreign-vaccinated dogs need a CDC-registered facility reservation regardless of titer result
→ Dogs need either a passing rabies titer or a 28-day quarantine at arrival
→ Foreign-vaccinated dogs can only land at one of six specific US airports — Newark doesn’t count; the New York-area facility is at JFK
→ Turkey requires a microchip, PETVET registration, a passport, and a veterinary export certificate for both dogs and cats before departure
→ Turkey’s protected native breeds need prior export authorization; Turkish Airlines separately bans several breeds outright
→ Check your destination US state’s own animal-entry requirements before travel
→ Turkish Airlines flies nonstop from Istanbul to a 14-city US network, including two CDC-facility airports
→ Assuming the simple, low-risk CDC pathway applies
→ Implanting the microchip after the rabies vaccine
→ Starting the rabies titer test too late
→ Booking arrival at the wrong US airport (Newark isn’t a CDC-facility airport)
→ Assuming Turkey needs the same USDA screwworm certificate as Thailand
→ Applying Turkey’s pet-import rules to this export route
→ Assuming Turkey’s protected-breed rule and Turkish Airlines’ banned-breed list are the same thing
Cabin & Checked Hold
Varies
8 kg / 17.6 lbs (cabin, pet + carrier)
Nonstop to 14 US cities
Follow this timeline to make sure you complete everything on time for a smooth, stress-free travel day.
Turkey is on CDC's high-risk list for dog rabies, so the single free CDC form used on many other routes isn't enough.
CDC treats the vaccine as invalid if the microchip comes after it.
The titer test needs blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination and at least 28 days before travel.
A dog on the foreign-vaccinated pathway can only land where a CDC-registered animal care facility exists.
USDA lists Turkey as free of screwworm, so that certificate doesn't apply here even though Turkey shares other high-risk factors with Thailand.
These are two separate rules from two separate authorities.
Costs vary based on pet size, airline, season, and any additional Services.
No single authoritative Turkey-to-US total was verified. Costs depend heavily on the titer-vs-quarantine pathway, cabin vs. hold, and crate choice.
Typical total cost
Price in USD, Estimate only.
→ CDC Dog Import Form receipt — dogs
→ Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form (or the Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form, if applicable) — dogs
→ Rabies serology titer report, if pursuing that pathway — dogs
→ Turkey PETVET registration and passport — dogs and cats
→ Turkey’s export health certificate from your district Tarım ve Orman Müdürlüğü office — dogs and cats
→ Prior export authorization, if a protected native breed — dogs and cats
→ Microchip record — dogs and cats
→ Airline confirmation
Start with your origin country guide for route-specific requirements, timelines, and common pitfalls.
→ Yes. Turkey is on CDC’s high-risk list.
→ Dogs need a fuller document chain than the simple low-risk pathway used on many other routes.
→ Only if you want to avoid the mandatory 28-day quarantine after arrival.
→ Both the titer pathway and the quarantine pathway are valid ways to bring your dog in.
→ Either way, you still need a CDC-registered animal care facility reservation.
→ No, not on the foreign-vaccinated pathway.
→ Your dog can only land at a US airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility — currently Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, Philadelphia, or Washington-Dulles.
→ Turkish Airlines flies nonstop to both JFK and Washington-Dulles.
→ No. Cats don’t need CDC rabies-vaccination proof or a titer test, and USDA has no federal requirement for cats at all.
→ Turkey’s own departure requirements (microchip, PETVET registration, passport, export health certificate) still apply to cats.
→ Yes. Turkish Airlines flies nonstop from Istanbul to 14 US cities, including Newark.
→ No US airline currently flies this route nonstop.
→ Newark isn’t a CDC-registered-facility airport — that pathway needs JFK.
→ No. USDA lists Turkey as free of screwworm.
→ Turkey does share USDA’s foot-and-mouth disease designation with Thailand, which adds a post-arrival care step for dogs (bathing, avoiding livestock contact for 5 days) but requires no certificate.
→ Yes, two separate rules.
→ Turkey requires prior export authorization for seven protected native breeds (Kangal, Akbaş, and Kars shepherd dogs, the Çatalburun pointer, the Zağar İnci dog, and the Ankara and Van cat breeds).
→ Turkish Airlines separately won’t carry certain breeds, including Pit Bull-type dogs, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Japanese Tosa, and American Bully, on any flight.
Our pet relocation experts are here to guide you every step of the way.
If a regulation changes after this page was published, the official source always takes precedence over this guide — check the links above for the current rules before you travel.
Turkey is one of the more involved routes covered on this site, driven by CDC’s high-risk classification and USDA’s FMD designation both applying to dogs — but it’s lighter than some other high-risk routes in real ways.
Turkey’s CDC high-risk classification adds a titer-or-quarantine choice and a landing-airport restriction for dogs, and USDA’s FMD designation adds a post-arrival care step — though, unlike Thailand, Turkey isn’t screwworm-affected, so that extra certificate doesn’t apply. Cats avoid nearly all of this on the U.S. side, though Turkey’s own export paperwork still applies to them.
Unlike some other high-risk-country routes on this site, Turkish Airlines flies nonstop from Istanbul to a large US network, including two CDC-registered facility airports. This means a dog on the foreign-vaccinated pathway may be able to avoid a connecting flight entirely by booking into JFK or Washington-Dulles.
A passing rabies titer test lets your dog skip the 28-day quarantine, but the test itself has real lead time. If that timeline doesn’t fit your move date, the alternative isn’t a dead end — it’s a reservation at a CDC-registered facility and a 28-day stay after arrival. Either path gets your dog into the country; they just move the wait to a different point in the process.
Given the document chain and the titer-test timing, professional help can be worth it for a dog on the foreign-vaccinated pathway, especially on a tight timeline. A straightforward cat move is more manageable without help.
If a regulation changes after this page was published, the official source always takes precedence over this guide — check the links above for the current rules before you travel.
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