Dog and pet passports from the UK

New EU rules took effect on 22 April 2026. Owners whose main home is in Great Britain should stop using EU pet passports to get into the EU, because a passport can now only be issued to someone who lives in the EU. Owning a holiday home there or spending part of the year there does not count, and passports issued to GB residents before the change may be refused at the border.

Instead, GB owners need an animal health certificate for every trip into the EU. What is new is that one certificate now covers six months of onward travel inside the EU and the trip back to Great Britain, as long as the rabies vaccination stays in date.

Two other limits changed at the same time. A private vehicle entering the EU can carry no more than five pets in total, rather than five per person, and a pet travelling without its owner must move within five days of the owner, with the owner's written permission travelling alongside its paperwork.

The certificate must be signed by an official veterinarian. Not every practice has one, so if yours does not, ask them to point you to one. A single certificate can cover up to five pets.

The certificate is valid for entry into the EU for 10 days from the day the vet issues it, counting the issue date as day one, so book the appointment for the week before you sail or drive through the tunnel. Take proof of the microchip date and the vaccination history, and mention the certificate when you book so the practice can prepare it.

Once you are in the EU, the same certificate lets you move between EU countries for up to six months and is accepted for re-entry to Great Britain for six months from issue. It is a one-trip document: the next time you leave Great Britain for the EU you need a new one. If the rabies vaccination runs out during the trip, the certificate stops working for onward travel and for coming home.

The vet will also ask you to sign a declaration that you are not taking the pet abroad to sell it or pass it to a new owner.

There is no set price. Each practice charges its own fee, and the ones below publish a price for the first pet of between £165 and £298.

Adding a second dog to the same certificate costs between £65 and £150 at the practices that list a price for it.

The rabies vaccination is charged separately if your dog needs one: Park Hall Vets in Mansfield lists it at £100, next to £200 for the certificate. Acorn House in Bedford says its fee covers the paperwork before the visit and a 45-minute appointment, and is not refunded if the certificate can't be issued because the vaccination or forms aren't in order.

Vets4Pets gives no price on its pet travel page, so ask your own practice for a quote when you book.

The dog must be microchipped before the rabies vaccination or at the same appointment. A chip put in after the vaccination means the vaccination has to be done again, and the chip number and date go on the certificate.

Ferries, trains and airlines in the EU can read chips that meet ISO 11784 and ISO 11785. If your dog's chip does not, you may need to carry your own reader, so check with the operator before you go. If your vet cannot read the chip at all, the preparation starts again: a new chip, a new vaccination and the full waiting period.

Your dog must be at least 12 weeks old for the rabies vaccination, and the vet needs proof of age. After a first vaccination, or the last dose of a first course, you have to wait at least 21 full days before travelling, counting the day after the vaccination as day one. Some vaccines need longer, so ask your vet.

If a booster is given before the previous one runs out, there is no new wait. If cover lapses, the dog is treated as starting again.

Every dog entering Great Britain needs a tapeworm treatment given by a vet no less than 24 hours and no more than 120 hours (five days) before arrival. That includes coming home from France, so most trips end with a vet appointment abroad. The only exemptions are dogs coming directly from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Finland, Malta or Norway.

The product must be approved where it is given and contain praziquantel, or an equivalent proven against the Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm. The vet records the product name and maker, the date and time of treatment, and their stamp and signature in the Echinococcus section of the certificate or pet passport.

Short trips can avoid the vet abroad. If you will be back within five days, a vet can treat the dog before you leave, provided you re-enter at least 24 hours and no more than 120 hours after the treatment. If you leave and return within 24 hours, the dog must be treated before departure. Either way, give another treatment within 28 days of getting home.

Miss the window and the dog can be refused entry or put into quarantine. If a delay pushes you past five days, a fresh treatment may be needed.

Taking a dog from Great Britain to Northern Ireland needs a Northern Ireland pet travel document and a microchip. The document is free, you apply for it on GOV.UK, and it lasts as long as you own the pet. With it, the dog does not need a rabies vaccination or tapeworm treatment for this journey.

By ferry, you scan the dog's microchip at the port in Great Britain using a scanner provided there. If there is a problem with the chip, you go to the inspection facility at Belfast or Larne when you arrive. By air, email the Northern Ireland agriculture department at least 10 working days before you fly. There are no checks on pets going from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.

Ireland is an EU country, so a dog from Great Britain needs the animal health certificate, microchip and rabies vaccination described above. Ireland is also one of the countries that requires a tapeworm treatment before you arrive, given 24 to 120 hours beforehand and recorded on the certificate.

Dogs coming directly from Ireland to Great Britain need no tapeworm treatment, and you do not have to use an approved route or travel company.

The rules for re-entering Great Britain did not change in April 2026. Your dog's microchip and documents are checked, and the check may happen before you board if you are travelling by sea or through the Channel Tunnel. The animal health certificate is accepted for six months from issue, and an EU pet passport can still be used for the journey home.

Apart from travel from Ireland and within the UK, you must come in on an approved route with an approved company, and those can change or run only at certain times of year. If the paperwork or preparation is wrong, the dog can be quarantined for up to four months or sent back, and the owner pays the costs.

The UK government says a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU should make pet travel easier and cheaper, with a multi-use pet passport replacing a new certificate for each trip. It is not in force yet: the government's guidance, last updated on 30 July 2026, says it intends the agreement to apply from mid-2027, while negotiations continue and details are unconfirmed. Until then, every trip still needs an animal health certificate.

On the way home, ferry companies and the Channel Tunnel operator do the checks for Great Britain at the departure port, before you cross. They scan the microchip, or watch you do it, compare it with the certificate, make sure the document is the original and properly signed and stamped, confirm the rabies vaccination came on or after the microchip date, and check that the tapeworm treatment falls inside the 24 to 120 hour window.

The Channel Tunnel operator lists several common spot-on and chewable parasite products that it does not accept for the tapeworm entry, and that wrong or incomplete paperwork means the dog is refused travel until it is put right. Each operator's own pet rules, fees and check-in times are in our crossings guide.