Guide to Relocating Your Pet to Europe
|
|
Time to read 12 min
Introduction
The thought of bringing your beloved dog or cat to Europe can feel daunting. This guide walks through the planning phase, the actual process of flying with your pet, and what you can expect when you arrive. Because relocating overseas is stressful enough without discovering — somewhere over the Atlantic — that your USDA paperwork and your sanity have both gone missing.
One important note: this guide covers in-cabin pet travel only. If you are transporting a larger animal in the cargo hold, the requirements differ significantly and are not covered here.
Why you can trust us:
- The research is current — verified from official sources, dated.
- The experience is real — one woman, one pug, San Francisco to Paris.
- The gaps are labeled — if we couldn’t confirm it, we tell you.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 2. Pre-departure 2.A Get a flexible ticket 2.B Choose a pet carrier 2.C Start Crate Training - now 2.D Choose a pet carrier 2.E Confirm the Microchip 2.F Rabies Vaccination 2.G The USDA Health Certificate 2.H Pet Animal Policies 3. The Journey 3.A Day-of-travel 3.B At the Airport 3.C The flight 4. Home Away From Home 4.A Settling In 4.B Finding A Vet 4.C Becoming A Local Summary Resources
Pre-departure
Get a flexible ticket
Book a changeable fare. It can be “non-refundable” but you’re going to want the flexibility of changing your flight based on the USDA taking its (own sweet…) time providing the required certification of your pet. The USDA operates on its own timeline and is largely indifferent to yours. Plan around the paperwork, not around the ticket. This is the single most important logistical decision you will make before any of the following steps.
Choose a pet carrier
The carrier decision matters more than most people realize, and it should be made — and tested — months before the flight, not the week before departure. Two requirements are non-negotiable: it must meet your airline’s published dimensions (see the Airline Pet Policy chart), and your pet must be able to stand, turn around, and sit comfortably inside it without crouching.
Soft-sided carriers are the standard for in-cabin pet travel. The carrier used for Boots’s move from San Francisco to Paris was the Frisco Soft-Sided Expandable Cat & Dog Carrier Bag, available at Chewy.com. Closed, it measures 43.9 × 27.9 × 27.9 cm (17.3” × 11” × 11”) — within the limits of most carriers on the airline chart. What makes it worth mentioning is its expandable design: zippers on both sides allow the panels to fold down like wings, extending the footprint to 43.9 × 27.9 × 75.9 cm (17.3” × 29.9”) — nearly triple the width for a nice little stretch.
This expanded configuration can only be used if the seats on one or both sides of you are unoccupied, since the wings extend into the adjacent under-seat floor space. On a full transatlantic flight this is unlikely. Treat it as a bonus if it happens, not something to count on. Ask the check-in agent whether any row has open seats. When it did happen for Boots over an 11-hour flight, it made a meaningful difference.
The carrier also came with a collapsible travel bowl; whereas such can be useful for walks and car trips, you do not want your pet to be slurping down excessive water on a transatlantic flight. The goal on travel day is moderation, not convenient hydration.
Start Crate Training - now
Whatever you think “enough time” looks like for crate training, schedule more. Your pet needs to be not just comfortable but genuinely calm in the carrier before you attempt a transatlantic flight. A stressed, vocal, or restless animal in a carrier under an airplane seat for 10-plus hours is miserable for the pet, stressful for you, and noticed by every person within earshot of potential wailing.
Start with short sessions at home. Graduate to car trips. Eventually work up to a full night with the carrier zipped. The goal is an animal that treats the carrier as his den rather than a mobile prison sentence. For brachycephalic breeds — pugs, bulldogs, Frenchies — this matters even more, since stress can compound any breathing difficulties.
Work with your vet on exploring possible sedation or anti-anxiety medication for the flight. Even if you’re set on not sedating your pup or cat you may want to have it with you as a back-up measure…just in case. If you plan and test any applicable medication at home you can see the results and confer with your vet on side effects, etc. Word to the wise: do not administer anything on travel day that hasn’t been tested. A bad reaction at 35,000 feet is not a situation anyone wants.
Confirm the Microchip
Next, have your vet scan your pet’s microchip with a universal reader. Confirm it is there, that it is readable, and that it is ISO 11784/11785 compliant — the standard required by the EU. Many pets microchipped in the US before ISO compliance became standard have chips that European scanners cannot read. For example, if the chip number is 9 or 10 digits long it is not compliant; it must be 15 digits long. Period.
If the chip cannot be found or is not ISO-compliant, a new chip must be inserted. This resets your timeline entirely, because the rabies vaccination must follow the confirmed chip — not precede it.
Rabies Vaccination
Once the microchip is confirmed and scanned, your vet can administer or document the rabies vaccination. The EU’s rule is unambiguous: the microchip must be in place and readable at the time of vaccination for that vaccination to count. If the vaccination came first, it does not count. Full stop.
A primary rabies vaccination — meaning the first one after microchip confirmation, or any vaccination following a lapse in coverage — requires a minimum wait of 21 days before EU entry. Some vaccine manufacturers recommend 30 days. Your vet must document the manufacturer’s recommended immunity period on the application that goes to the USDA. Ask them to confirm it explicitly.
Note: A booster is only recognized as a booster if continuous vaccination coverage has been maintained and the chip was in place at the time of the previous full vaccination.
The USDA Health Certificate
This is where the timeline gets complicated; let’s break it down into five steps:
Step 1 — Find a USDA-accredited veterinarian. Not every vet holds this accreditation. Your regular vet may or may not qualify. Search the USDA’s accredited vet database at aphis.usda.gov before assuming yours can issue the certificate. Note that even if your vet is accredited the process for planning your dog or cat’s move overseas is not a normal service they perform regularly. Make sure you review the packet going to the USDA yourself to ensure everything has been done correctly to your satisfaction; don’t rely on the vet getting every single thing right – their ‘day job’ is treating pets, not filling out massive blocks of paperwork.
Step 2 — If moving to France, request the bilingual health certificate. France specifically requires a bilingual (English/French) version of the EU health certificate (France requires bilingual documentation — because of course it does). This is not the standard form — you must request a bilingual version separately by emailing LAIE@usda.gov. Do this early.
Step 3 — Your vet issues the certificate. Your USDA-accredited vet completes and issues the health certificate after examining your pet. Voilà — certificate issued! Process complete? Not quite — Step 4 awaits.
Step 4 — Submit to USDA APHIS for ink endorsement. The certificate must be ink-signed and embossed by USDA APHIS before it is valid. You can submit via VEHCS (Veterinary Export Health Certification System) online, or by overnight mail to your regional APHIS endorsement office.
If submitting by mail — and this matters — include a prepaid return label. Before you do: call your regional USDA APHIS endorsement office and ask which shipping carriers they have physical access to for return packages. Do not assume. One regional office could not access a UPS drop box despite receiving a UPS return label.
Also worth knowing: USDA APHIS endorsement offices are staffed Monday through Friday, 7am–4:30pm Central Time, excluding federal holidays. They are not known for answering their phones with enthusiasm. Or at all, some days. Email is often more productive.
Step 5 — Mind the 10-day window. Once USDA endorses the certificate, your pet must arrive in France within 10 days. Assume that window is strict. If your travel date shifts — and given USDA’s processing times, it may — you may need a new certificate. Which is why Step 1 on this entire list was: get a flexible ticket.
Source: USDA APHIS, Pet Travel From the United States to France. aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel/us-to-another-country-export/pet-travel-us-france. Last modified November 7, 2025.
Airline Pet Policies
Before booking any flight, consult the full Airline Pet Policy chart — see below — which covers Air France, United, Delta, American Airlines, French Bee, and La Compagnie with verified policies, carrier dimensions, fees, and brachycephalic breed restrictions.
CHART: Airline Pet Policies - US to Paris
For the full chart with notations, download it here.
The Journey
Day-of-Travel
Food and water: Reduce both in the hours before departure — enough that your pet is comfortable, not so much that you’re managing a bathroom situation mid-flight with no good options. Lessen their intake of food and water but don’t ban either altogether.
The travel kit
- A small plastic bottle with an eyedropper tip for administering small doses of water during the flight without encouraging the pet to drink in volume
- A familiar small blanket or soft item, if it fits — something that smells like home
- A small toy
- A disposable pee pad — pack it, hope you never open it, and know that if the situation arises you’ll figure it out.
- Any prescribed medication, in the original prescription bottle, with dosing instructions
Sedation: If your vet has prescribed a sedative or anti-anxiety medication, a trial run at home well before travel day is essential. You need to know how your pet responds before you’re at altitude. Trazodone is commonly prescribed for dogs for travel anxiety. Dosage varies by weight, age, and individual animal — your vet’s instructions are the only instructions that apply.
At the Airport
Before you go through security: Know where the pet relief stations are at your departure terminal before you get in the TSA line. At SFO, both international concourses and the domestic terminals have designated pet relief areas. Check your departure airport’s website in advance — locations vary and are not always well-signed once you’re airside.
At check-in: Have your documents organized and accessible — the USDA-endorsed health certificate, the bilingual certificate (France requires this), and your pet’s rabies vaccination record. All of them. Your pet will need to be placed in the carrier and the carrier placed on the scale or counter for inspection.
The Flight
Pets must remain in their carriers for the duration of the flight. This is federal law, not airline preference, and flight attendants take it seriously — particularly on international flights. You may have seen someone with a pet on their lap at some point. Don’t be that person. It is not worth the confrontation, and more importantly, it is not fair to the animal to think that maybe with a bit of whining they’ll get to hop back onto your lap.
What you can do: every hour or so, if and only if your pet is awake, unzip the top panel of the carrier and reach in to offer reassurance. A calm hand behind the ears goes a long way on a long-haul flight.
Never wake a sleeping dog. If the sedative has done its job and your pet is resting, leave them be. The kindest thing you can do for a pet on a transatlantic flight is let them sleep through as much of it as possible.
The expanded carrier wings, if the adjacent seats are empty, can be deployed once the seatbelt sign is off. Do it quietly if the space is available and fold them back if requested.
Home Away From Home
Settling In
The first priority when you arrive at your new home is not unpacking. It’s your pet. Before anything else, let them decompress — off the plane, out of the carrier, and into a space that smells at least partially familiar. This is where the toys, blanket, and bed from home earn their keep. Bring them. Don’t assume you’ll find equivalent comfort items quickly in a new city.
Once your pet has had water, a small meal, and time to exhale, take them for a slow, purposeless walk. Not for exercise per se but to allow them to explore. Let them stop at (almost!) everything. Foreign city, foreign scents, foreign everything. This is how animals process a new environment. Give them the time.
On pet food: If you’ve been feeding your pet a specific brand in the U.S., the good news is that premium brands travel well — at least in terms of availability. Science Diet and Royal Canin, two of the most widely recommended veterinary-grade foods, are both available in France. Mon Véto, the veterinary clinic network with multiple Paris locations, offers an ordering service through their website — you order and pay directly at veterinaire-monveto.com, the food is delivered to your nearest clinic, and you pick it up at a modest discount versus retail. It’s a useful setup and worth knowing about early.
Finding A Vet
Do this before you need one. Finding a good vet under pressure, in a foreign language, with a sick animal is not a situation to improvise.
A few things worth evaluating when choosing a vet in Paris:
English-speaking staff. Not universal, but not rare either. Ask directly before your first appointment. A vet who speaks English — or has a staff member who does — removes a layer of stress from every visit.
Emergency coverage. In France, emergency veterinary home visits are a thing: a wonderful, loving, private thing. After-hours, a vet can come to you rather than you navigating an unfamiliar city with a distressed animal in the middle of the night. This is not a premium service exclusive to one practice — it’s a broader feature of the French veterinary system, though availability varies. Ask your regular vet what their after-hours arrangement is before you ever need it.
Mon Véto (veterinaire-monveto.com) is a nationwide network with multiple Paris locations, offering general medicine, surgery, diagnostics, and 24-hour emergency care. The Saint-Germain location is at 47 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 5e.
Becoming A Local
Here is what nobody tells you before you move to Paris with a pet, and what makes all of the preceding paperwork worth it:
Paris doesn’t just tolerate dogs. It welcomes them.
Small dogs ride the Métro. Not in a special car, not with special paperwork — just in a bag on your lap or tucked under your arm, the way a Parisian carries a baguette. Boots travels in his fleece-lined carry bag.
Most restaurants will bring a bowl of water for your dog without being asked. Not all, but most. Sit down, get settled, and it appears. This is not a special accommodation. It is just what happens.
Dogs are welcome in many shops, pharmacies, and boutiques. The notable exception — and it is the only significant one — is the grocery store. Outside it, however, is fair game.
In the warmer months, Place Dauphine — the triangular square at the western tip of Île de la Cité, a short walk from Notre-Dame — fills up with café tables on one side and pétanque games on the other. Dogs are everywhere. It is, without question, Boots’s park. He presides over it with the quiet authority of someone who has earned his place.
Summary
After everything it took to get here — the microchip, the USDA, the piourette test at the airport, the 11-hour flight — this is where it lands. A pug in a pink tutu, in a Parisian square, in the sun.
Worth It.
Resources
Further Readings
→ Airline-approved Pet Carriers
→ Finding an Apartment in Paris without Losing Your Dignity
The Author: Layne Gray
Layne is an expat from the west coast of the U.S. who has been living in Paris since 2023. She is a published author who enjoys sharing stories about living and traveling in Europe and the many mistakes she makes along the way.
