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Bringing a cat from the United States to South Korea

Yes — and Korea is the fastest of the titer-test destinations, because there is no waiting period after the blood test. A cat aged 90 days or more needs an ISO microchip, a current rabies vaccination, and a rabies antibody result of 0.5 IU/mL or higher from blood drawn within 24 months before arrival, all recorded on a USDA-endorsed health certificate. Meet that and APQA normally releases your cat the same day you land; miss a piece and your cat is held at the quarantine station until it is fixed.
0 days
Titer wait
No waiting period after a passing result
≥0.5 IU/mL
Titer result
Blood drawn within 24 months of arrival
Same day
Release if compliant
Held until fixed if anything is missing
30 days
Health cert window
Issued and USDA-endorsed before export (per APHIS)

Step-by-step checklist

Requirements — Cat · the United States → South Korea
StepWhat to doWhen
MicrochipImplant an ISO 11784/11785 microchip. Korea requires a chip for every cat, at any age, and the number must appear on the health certificate. If the chip is not ISO, travel with your own reader. Before anything else
Rabies vaccinationRequired for cats aged 90 days or older, and it must be current when you arrive. Cats under 90 days old are exempt from both the vaccination and the titer test — but they still need the microchip and the certificate. Before the titer test
Rabies antibody (titer) testFAVN or RFFIT test at an internationally approved laboratory (in the US, Kansas State University Rabies Laboratory is the usual choice). Result must be 0.5 IU/mL or higher, from blood drawn within 24 months before arrival in Korea. There is no mandatory wait after a passing result — you can travel as soon as the certificate is ready. After vaccination
Health certificate + USDA endorsementKorea-specific certificate issued by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by USDA-APHIS within 30 days of export — APHIS sets this window, and the certificate states it is valid for 30 days after issuance. The microchip number and the titer result (sample date, laboratory, result) must be recorded on the certificate itself; a separate lab report alone is not what APQA checks. Final 30 days
Arrival inspectionAn APQA quarantine officer checks the documents and examines your cat at the port of entry. If everything is verified, import quarantine is complete and your cat is released the same day. No import permit is needed for a personal pet travelling with its owner. On arrival

Your preparation timeline

  1. 1~2 months out — Microchip and rabies vaccination (skip both vaccine steps only if your cat is under 90 days old)
  2. 2After vaccination — Titer blood draw — result valid for 24 months, and no wait follows it
  3. 3Final 30 days — Korea health certificate issued by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by APHIS
  4. 4Arrival — APQA document check and clinical inspection — same-day release if compliant
The mistake that causes trouble on this route: Arriving with the titer result missing from the certificate. Korea checks the result recorded on the government health certificate, not just a lab printout in your folder — and a cat that arrives with no valid health certificate at all is sent back, not held. The other classic trap: assuming a deficiency means a fixed quarantine term. Korea holds your cat until the missing piece is completed (a chip implanted, a new titer run in Korea), at your expense, however long that takes.

Costs you can plan for

There is no import permit and no permit fee for a personal pet entering Korea. The costs you can plan for are the US-side ones — microchip, rabies vaccination, the titer test and laboratory turnaround, USDA endorsement, and the flight. Korea-side charges only appear if something is wrong on arrival: quarantine-station boarding and any testing APQA has to run in Korea (its published fee for a rabies antibody test is ₩110,000) are billed to the owner.

✈️ 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 Korea quarantine cats on arrival?

Not when the paperwork is right. If the microchip matches the certificate and the titer result is valid, APQA completes the inspection at the airport and releases your cat the same day. A cat with a missing chip, test or document is held at the quarantine station until the problem is fixed — and a cat with no health certificate at all is returned to its country of origin.

Do I need an import permit for Korea?

No. For a personal pet travelling with its owner, Korea requires no import permit and no advance application — the microchip, the vaccination and titer records, and the endorsed health certificate are the whole file.

My kitten is under 90 days old. What changes?

Cats under 90 days old do not need the rabies vaccination or the titer test. They still need an ISO microchip and a USDA-endorsed health certificate that records the chip number and the cat's date of birth.

How long is the titer result valid for Korea?

The blood sample must have been drawn within 24 months before your arrival in Korea — the widest validity window of any destination on this site — and the result must be 0.5 IU/mL or higher. Unlike Japan or Singapore, Korea adds no waiting period after the sample is drawn.

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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