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Bringing a dog from Ireland to the United States

Yes — a dog from Ireland takes the CDC's simple low-risk route into the United States: the only federal document is the free CDC Dog Import Form receipt, and your dog can enter at any airport, seaport or land border. The catches are age and history, not paperwork: your dog must be at least 6 months old, microchipped and healthy on arrival, and must not have been in a CDC high-risk rabies country in the past 6 months.
6 months
Minimum age
No dog under 6 months may enter the US
6 months
Receipt validity
CDC form receipt — multiple entries, same departure country
Free
CDC Dog Import Form
One form per dog, completed online by the importer
None
Titer test or quarantine
Not required on the low-risk route

Step-by-step checklist

Requirements — Dog · Ireland → the United States
StepWhat to doWhen
Check the 6-month history firstCDC classifies by where the dog has been, not just where it departs. Germany, France and Ireland are not on the CDC high-risk list for dog rabies — and CDC states that a country not on that list is dog rabies-free or low-risk. If your dog has been in any listed high-risk country in the past 6 months, this simple route does not apply at all and the high-risk paperwork, titer and Animal Care Facility route applies instead. Before booking
MicrochipYour dog must have a microchip that can be detected with a universal scanner (CDC). Under the EU rules that govern your pet passport, the chip (or a tattoo applied before 3 July 2011) must also be in place before — or read on the same day as — the rabies vaccination, or that vaccination does not count for EU purposes. Before vaccination
Rabies vaccination + EU pet passportEU pet passport from your vet in Ireland — the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) says a pet leaving Ireland for a non-EU country must still be able to qualify to return, and that for non-EU trips you follow the destination's certificate rules; if a destination does require a government-stamped health certificate, contact your Regional Veterinary Office at least 2 months ahead. The United States imposes no such federal certificate (see below), so for this route the passport is the document that matters. Note the split: CDC does NOT require a rabies vaccination certificate for a dog that has only been in low-risk countries — but a valid rabies vaccination recorded in the EU pet passport is what lets your dog travel out of the EU and, crucially, come back, and airlines routinely ask to see it. Under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131 (which replaced Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 on 22 April 2026) the first vaccination must be at 12 weeks of age or older and is only valid 21 days after the primary course is completed. ≥21 days before travel if a primary vaccination
CDC Dog Import Form receiptComplete the free CDC Dog Import Form online — one form per dog, completed by the importer (owner/shipper). Verify your email (the verification message comes from CDC's system) and the receipt is emailed, usually within about 15 minutes of verification per CDC's instructions. You can complete it on the day of travel; CDC recommends a few days to up to 6 months before. Show the receipt — printed or on your phone — to the airline before boarding and to US Customs and Border Protection on arrival. A few days before travel
No federal health certificate — check state and airline insteadCDC does not require a general health certificate for entry to the United States; a certificate may still be required by your destination state or by your airline. USDA APHIS adds only one dog-specific federal rule on its import page: a screwworm-freedom certificate (official vet inspection within 5 days before shipment) for dogs coming from a screwworm-affected country — Ireland is not presented on that page as such a country, but confirm country status with APHIS before you travel. Final 2 weeks
ArrivalYour dog must appear healthy on arrival and may be inspected. A dog that has only been in rabies-free or low-risk countries in the past 6 months may enter at any US airport, seaport or land border crossing — there is no restricted-port list and no quarantine on this route. Arrival day

Your preparation timeline

  1. 1Any time — Microchip check, rabies vaccination kept in date, EU pet passport in hand
  2. 2≥21 days out — If this is a primary rabies vaccination, the 21-day EU validity wait must have run
  3. 3Final 2 weeks — Check your destination state's rules and your airline's pet and health-certificate conditions
  4. 4A few days out — Submit the CDC Dog Import Form online and save/print the emailed receipt
  5. 5Travel day — Show the receipt to the airline; keep it for Customs and Border Protection
  6. 6Arrival — Health/appearance inspection — compliant dogs go straight through at any port
The mistake that causes trouble on this route: The 6-month age rule. An EU pet passport lets a puppy travel inside the EU from 15 weeks (12 weeks + the 21-day wait), but the United States admits no dog under 6 months old at entry — a fully passport-ready 4- or 5-month-old puppy from Ireland will still be refused. The second trap is history: one stay in a CDC high-risk country in the past 6 months moves your dog off this route entirely.

Costs you can plan for

The CDC Dog Import Form is free, and neither CDC nor USDA APHIS publishes a federal import fee for a pet dog on this route. Your real costs are on the European side — vet visits, any (re)vaccination and the EU pet passport — plus the airline's pet charge; no official EU or Ireland fee schedule for the passport/vet work was found in the sources checked for this page (checked 2026-11-12), so get a quote from your own vet rather than relying on a published tariff. Budget for the return leg too: keep the rabies vaccination in date so re-entry to the EU stays a paperwork check, not a titer-test wait.

✈️ Government rules are only half the trip. Airlines set their own pet carriage rules (crate size, breed limits, seasonal embargoes). Re-confirm carriage with your airline after you meet the rules above.

Questions people ask about this route

Does my dog need a rabies vaccination certificate to enter the US?

Not for CDC on this route. Since 1 August 2024 the only required documentation for a dog that has only been in rabies-free or low-risk countries in the past 6 months is the CDC Dog Import Form receipt, plus being at least 6 months old, microchipped and healthy on arrival. CDC still strongly recommends rabies vaccination — and you need a valid vaccination in the EU pet passport for the EU side and for returning to Ireland.

How long is the CDC Dog Import Form receipt valid?

Six months from issue, for multiple entries — but only from the same country of departure named on the receipt. If the dog visits a high-risk country, or you next depart from a different low-risk country, you need a new form for that trip.

Which US airport must we fly into?

Any. Dogs that have only been in rabies-free or low-risk countries in the past 6 months may enter at any airport, seaport or land border crossing. The restricted list of airports with CDC-registered Animal Care Facilities applies only to the high-risk route.

Can we come back to Ireland afterwards?

Plan for it before you leave. The United States is a listed third country for EU pet re-entry, so a dog travelling on a valid EU pet passport with an in-date rabies vaccination does not need a rabies antibody titer test to return — but if the vaccination lapses while you are away, re-entry gets much harder. Keep boosters in date.

Related guides

✓ Last verified: 2026-11-12

Official sources for this page

We check each rule against the exporting country's official page and the destination country's official page. If the two disagree, we show the disagreement instead of guessing.

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