Bringing a dog or cat to Taiwan
Moderate. Every pet needs a microchip, a rabies vaccine given 30 days to 1 year before travel, an import permit and an official export certificate. Pets from 11 rabies-free places need no titer test. For everyone else, quarantine can be waived since 29 February 2024 if the titer blood draw was 180 days to 1 year before arrival and the result reaches APHIA in time; otherwise the pet does 7 days at the Guanyin quarantine station.
Which rules apply to you
Taiwan sorts arriving pets by where they travel from. Find your group, then follow its steps.
| Arriving from | Titer test | Wait after sample | Permit | Quarantine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rabies-free countries and regionsJapan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Sweden, Iceland, Norway (excluding Svalbard), Estonia, Hawaii and Guam. Hawaii has no ISO2 code, so it is not in the list. The pet must have lived there for 180 days before export, or since birth. | No | — | Yes | Only if rules not met |
| All other countries (rabies-affected)Every country or region not on the rabies-free list, including the US mainland, Canada, the EU (except Sweden and Estonia), Korea, Hong Kong and China. | Yes | 180 days | Yes | Only if rules not met |
Step by step
Microchip the pet
The chip number must appear on the vaccine record and the export certificate.
Vaccinate against rabies
Give an inactivated rabies vaccine at over 90 days of age, 30 days to 1 year before import.
Apply for the import permit
Apply online (pet-epermit.aphia.gov.tw) or on paper at least 20 days before arrival, with your ID and the vaccine certificate. A new permit format applies from 5 January 2026, and the old format stops being valid on 1 January 2027.
Get the official export certificate
The export country's government vet issues a certificate showing the breed, sex, age, microchip, vaccine date, residency and no signs of rabies.
Present documents on arrival
Give APHIA at the port the permit copy, the original certificate and the airway bill.
No quarantine if fully compliant. A missing microchip, certificate or required details means return, euthanasia or quarantine (7 to 187 days).
Microchip and vaccinate
Implant a microchip, then give an inactivated rabies vaccine at over 90 days of age, 30 days to 1 year before travel.
Rabies titer test
Wait at least a month after vaccinating, then draw blood and send it to a WOAH or APHIA-listed lab. The result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml.
Apply for the permit early
To skip quarantine, apply at least 120 days before arrival. Otherwise apply at least 20 days ahead, have the lab or government send the titer result directly to APHIA, and book a quarantine space as a fallback.
Time arrival 180 days to 1 year after the blood draw
Arriving in that window (with the result on file at APHIA) means no quarantine. Arriving earlier means 7 days in quarantine.
Get the official export certificate
The export country's government vet (for the US, a USDA-endorsed certificate on Taiwan's form) certifies the microchip, vaccination and health.
Arrive during official hours
Present the permit, original certificate and airway bill to APHIA at the port. Late arrivals may stay at the airport overnight.
0 days on the waiver track. Otherwise 7 days at the Guanyin quarantine station (about NT$6,625). If the titer is under 0.5 IU/ml, the pet is revaccinated and held longer.
Good to know
- Cats
- Same as dogs
- How many pets
- Not specified
- Parasite treatment
- None specified
- Arrival
- Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is the main entry point, with quarantine at the Guanyin station. Pets may fly in the cabin in a soft carrier if the airline allows; cargo pets need an IATA crate.
- Pets more than 6 weeks pregnant at shipment are not accepted.
- Pets returning to Taiwan within 180 days of leaving a rabies-free country need a statement that they never entered a third country.
- The quarantine-waiver dual track took effect on 29 February 2024.
What we could not confirm
- APHIA's own English pages could not be fetched. The rules come from other governments' summaries (Taiwan Gold Card Office, Australia MICoR, USDA) and a news report.
- Sources conflict on standard-track titer timing: USDA says the sample must be at least 90 days before shipment; the 2024 waiver needs 180 days to 1 year before arrival.
- It is unclear whether rabies-free-origin pets now have zero quarantine (MICoR suggests so) or 7 days (Gold Card page, 2021).
- The rabies-free list (11 places) comes from a 2024 news report citing the Ministry of Agriculture; check it on APHIA.
- Certificate timing before travel was not found.
Sources
Checked against official sources on 2026-10-28. Rules change: confirm with Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIA), Ministry of Agriculture before booking.