EU Pet Passports
From 22 April 2026, EU pet passports can no longer be used by residents of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) for travel to the EU.
EU pet passports are now intended only for pets whose owners are resident in the EU. This means that passports issued to GB residents — including those obtained previously or linked to second homes or regular travel — may no longer be accepted for entry into the EU.
As a result, even if you already hold an EU pet passport, you will usually need to obtain an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) to travel from Great Britain to the EU with your pet.
For the official announcements, please see:
What this means
Pets travelling from Great Britain to the EU will now require an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) for each trip.
In general:
-
The AHC must be issued by an Official Veterinarian
-
It must be issued within 10 days of travel
-
It is valid for entry into the EU and onward travel, provided the rabies vaccination remains valid
Using an EU pet passport as rabies evidence
Although EU pet passports are no longer valid travel documents, they may still be used as supporting evidence of rabies vaccination when issuing an AHC, provided the rabies vaccination is valid according to manufacturer guidelines.
However, we are currently seeing a number of issues with how rabies vaccinations have been recorded in some EU pet passports.
These include:
-
Booster vaccinations recorded with incorrect validity periods
-
Vaccinations recorded as valid for 3 years where this may not be supported (and may in fact only be valid for 1 year)
-
Different vaccine brands being used without clear documentation of compatibility or whether the course has been restarted
As a result, in some cases, it may not be possible to issue an AHC based on the EU pet passport provided.
Without seeing your EU pet passport we cannot confirm whether we can issue an AHC based on this.
Specific note on certain rabies vaccines
We are currently seeing a number of cases involving Rabigen Mono and Rabisin rabies vaccinations where validity has been incorrectly recorded as 3 years.
Based on manufacturer guidance, these vaccines are typically:
-
Valid for 1 year when used as a primary vaccination, and
-
Only valid for up to 3 years when given as a booster to the same vaccine brand within the correct timeframe
If these vaccines have been used following a different brand, or where the history is unclear, the vaccination may need to be treated as a primary course.
In these situations, a further rabies vaccination and a 21-day wait may be required before an AHC can be issued. We are trying to confirm with the APHA and manufacturers of these vaccinations whether they are compatible with other brands.
To check the validity of your EU pet passport contact the APHA pet travel team.