Bringing a dog or cat to Vietnam
One of the easier destinations. Up to 2 pets travelling with their owner are registered directly with the animal quarantine office at the border gate on arrival, with no import permit and no titer. You need an official health certificate and a valid rabies vaccination.
Which rules apply to you
Vietnam sorts arriving pets by where they travel from. Find your group, then follow its steps.
| Arriving from | Titer test | Wait after sample | Permit | Quarantine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All countries (up to 2 accompanied pets)Every origin. The pet must come from an area not quarantined for rabies. | No | — | No | Only if rules not met |
| More than 2 animals or non-pet purposesMore than 2 animals, or animals not kept as household pets or travel companions. | No | — | Yes | Only if rules not met |
Step by step
Microchip and vaccinate
Microchip the pet and record the number on the rabies certificate. Give rabies vaccine at least 30 days before departure (DAFF guidance) and make sure it is still valid on arrival.
Get an official health certificate
The export country's government vet certifies the pet is healthy, free of contagious disease and from an area not quarantined for rabies. The USDA certificate for Vietnam is valid 30 days from issue to departure.
Register at the border gate
On arrival, declare the pet to the animal quarantine office at the airport. They check documents, examine the pet and issue a Certificate of import quarantine.
No fixed quarantine. The border quarantine office checks the health certificate, examines the pet and vaccinates it if needed. Pets suspected of disease are sampled, and pets with dangerous infectious diseases are destroyed. If the foreign certificate is invalid, the pet is seized pending resolution.
Register with DAH before import
Submit an import quarantine registration dossier to the Department of Animal Health and follow its approval conditions. In practice this usually means using an import agent.
DAH sets the quarantine and isolation conditions in its approval
Good to know
- Cats
- Same as dogs
- How many pets
- 2 animals per passenger without prior DAH registration (Circular 25/2016 Art. 10). More requires DAH registration.
- Parasite treatment
- None specified
- Arrival
- International airports and border gates with an animal quarantine office (e.g. Hanoi Noi Bai, Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat, Da Nang). Check with the airline whether the pet can fly in the cabin or must go as cargo.
- MARD merged into the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in 2025. DAH remains the competent authority.
- Exotic or CITES-listed animals need CITES permits.
What we could not confirm
- I did not confirm whether later amendments (Circular 35/2018 or any 2024-2026 circular) changed Article 10 on accompanied pets.
- The 30-day minimum between rabies vaccination and departure comes from Australia's DAFF, not from a Vietnamese text.
- The 30-day certificate validity is USDA-specific.
- No DAH web page for pet owners was found; dah.gov.vn was not checked directly.
Sources
Checked against official sources on 2026-10-28. Rules change: confirm with Department of Animal Health (DAH), Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (formerly MARD) – border-gate animal quarantine stations before booking.