International Health Certificates

Traveling internationally with your pet?

At Charlotte Veterinary Hospital, we offer health certificates through a USDA accredited veterinarian. We are committed to ensuring your pet’s international health certificate is completed accurately and in accordance with current regulations. 

If you are interested in scheduling an appointment for an international health certificate, please email us at info@charlotteveterinaryhospital.com with your travel destination, anticipated travel dates, and your pet’s information.

Please note: While we are here to guide you through the medical requirements for international travel, we are not a pet travel agency. The process requires close collaboration between our veterinary team and you, the pet owner, as the party responsible for understanding and fulfilling all country-specific entry requirements.

International Health Certificates require an exam in order to be eligible.

Additional costs may include deworming treatments, tick treatments, and repeat visits or additional testing as needed to satisfy the country’s requirements.

All supporting documentation including rabies certificates, vaccine history, microchip implant records, etc. as well as completion of the IHC Prep Questionnaire, should be made available to us at least 5 business days before your appointment. Failure to have all the necessary prep work and documentation submitted to us may result in an additional rush IHC preparation fee.

We require physical copies of all vaccination certificates and required testing to review in order to complete ANY international health certificate. Digital copies are OK for the prep work needed before your appointment but physical copies are required at the time of appointment.
Note: If any vaccinations, tests, or other health-related issues have to be addressed, they must be done at a separate visit and cannot be done at the same time as the international health certificate exam.

Dog US Import: CDC Requirements

The CDC has updated requirements for dogs returning to the US – specifically those from high-risk rabies countries. This required paperwork/exam must be completed BEFORE leaving the US; owners who leave the United States with their dogs without first completing the steps for this form will be required to have their dogs re-enter the United States as if they were foreign-vaccinated dogs.

Owners are responsible for determining and meeting the requirements and timelines using the CDC website; they are encouraged to use the appropriate checklist.

CAC can complete the Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form that is required to have USDA endorsement – the cost for the form completion and endorsement is $257 per pet. If the pet does not already meet the proper microchip and rabies requirements, the pet will be required to be microchipped and/or vaccinated, and additional charges will apply.

Important shipping label information:

We strongly recommend using overnight express service to minimize delays when it comes to receiving your endorsed health certificate from the USDA.

In order for the health certificate to be returned by overnight delivery, you must provide a prepaid return label with your submission.

We don’t accept any shipping labels with credit card numbers on them. If you need to pay by credit card, you must have the service provider charge your card before generating the label. Please email your prepaid return label to us at info@charlotteveterinaryhospital.com.

Pickup information

  • FedEx, UPS, and USPS overnight express service packages are picked up from USDA offices every weekday evening.
  • The USDA does not have ground pick-up service.

We recommend using a service provider that uses a tracking number so you can track the package to and from the endorsing office. This will also decrease the chance of the package being lost in transit. It is your responsibility to keep a record of the tracking number.

If you’re using FedEx

  • The USDA office’s address should not appear anywhere on your return label.
  • Your name and address should appear on both the sender and the recipient’s area of the return label.

If you’re looking for more information about what to do when traveling internationally with your pet then check out the website for more information.

If you have any questions, though feel free to get in contact with a member of our team. We’d be happy to help you and your pet gets all the information you need to travel safely.

 USDA international travel requirements PDF Resources: