Which countries quarantine pets on arrival, and for how long

Each row comes from the rules behind our checklists. Its answer is what happens to a pet that meets every requirement. “In other cases” is the longest stay the same rule provides for when something about the pet or its papers differs. Under each row is the official page that states its answer.

A row holds for dogs and cats unless it names one of them. Smaller type under the origins says what narrows a row further.

The table is not a complete list. An origin a destination does not accept pets from has no row, and for a destination or an origin you do not find here, read its guide.

Where a pet that meets every requirement is still held

Going by the first line of each row, a pet with nothing missing is still kept in quarantine on arrival in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. None of them holds every arrival: each lets some origins through. What decides is the list the destination puts the country of departure on. The guide behind each name in the table says which countries are on which list.

Australia sorts countries into groups. Its page for cats from a Group 2 country says:

And for cats from a Group 3 country:

The shorter stay applies when an official government veterinarian verified the cat's identity before the RNATT blood sample, or the cat is of Australian origin with its identity on the Australian export certificate. RNATT is the rabies antibody blood test. Germany to Australia with a cat is a route with these two stays.

New Zealand’s import health standard puts both sides in one sentence:

Singapore groups countries into schedules. Schedule III takes every country that is not on Schedule I or II, and its veterinary conditions say:

Schedule II has terms of its own, quoted in the next section.

For South Africa the official wording is looser. Its Department of Agriculture writes of dogs:

The South Africa guide goes through it origin by origin.

A government station, an approved facility or home

Our checklists name the place of a quarantine in a few fixed words. Going by the same first lines, such a pet is held at a government quarantine station in Australia and Singapore and at an approved facility in New Zealand.

A government quarantine station is a facility of the authority itself. Australia’s is the Mickleham facility of the quotations above, Singapore’s its Animal Quarantine Centre.

An approved facility is one the authority approves or registers. In New Zealand it is named on the import permit:

The CDC-registered facility of the next section is of the same kind.

Quarantine at home is the third kind. According to Singapore’s veterinary conditions for Schedule II countries:

Germany to Singapore with a cat is a route where this can apply.

Where the place has to be booked before the flight

Where a stay is certain or possible, our checklists make the reservation a step of its own. They do so for Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States. The order differs. Australia wants the import permit first:

New Zealand wants the booking first:

In Singapore the space is the owner’s responsibility, as the Schedule III conditions quoted above say.

The United States asks for a reservation for dogs vaccinated abroad that have been in a country it rates as high-risk for dog rabies:

So every such dog goes to the facility on arrival, and the one without a valid blood test result stays there for the quarantine.

No quarantine when everything is in order, a long one when it is not

Where the table says no quarantine when the paperwork is in order, a missed requirement can mean a long stay. Japan releases a compliant pet within hours:

A pet that lands before its waiting period is over is held for the rest of it:

Our checklist counts that as up to 180 days at a government quarantine station. Here the cause is a date, and a date can be checked in advance: check a flight date for Germany to Japan with a cat.

Hawaii is a destination of its own within the United States. Its quarantine branch states what follows when the requirements of its 5 Day Or Less programme are not met:

Great Britain’s guidance is as brief:

Before you book

• Find the list your country is on. The answer belongs to the origin as much as to the destination.
• Where a place has to be booked, follow the order the authority sets for the permit and the booking.
• Where the table says no quarantine when the paperwork is in order, look at the dates of your own plan. Germany to Japan with a cat shows how a checklist lays them out.
• If the destination is still open, compare destinations side by side for your own origin: the comparison has a line for quarantine.

Whatever the route, confirm with the official authority of the destination and with your airline before travelling. Changes the authorities announce are logged on the rule changes list.