EU Pet Passport Guide 2026: What It Is, Who Needs One, and How It Works
The EU pet passport is one of the most useful documents in European pet travel. If you live in an EU country and travel within the EU with your pet, the passport is what makes movement between countries seamless. Here’s how it works.
What the EU pet passport is
An official document issued under EU Regulation 576/2013. It records:
- Owner information
- Animal information (name, species, breed, date of birth, colour, sex)
- Microchip number and implant date
- Rabies vaccination dates and the vaccine product used
- Rabies antibody test results (if applicable)
- Clinical health record
- Anti-parasite treatments (where required)
The passport is issued in a standardised EU format, recognised across all EU and EEA member states.
Who can issue it
Only Official Veterinarians (OVs) authorised by the competent authority of an EU member state. Your regular vet may or may not be an OV - you’ll need to check. In most EU countries, the local agricultural or veterinary ministry maintains a list of OV-authorised practices.
Travelling within the EU
An EU pet passport plus valid rabies vaccination (and the 21-day post-first-vaccination wait for new vaccinations) is all you need to move between EU countries. No additional health certificates, no border inspection post visits for EU-to-EU travel.
UK pets post-Brexit
This is the point of most confusion. UK pets travelling from the UK into the EU no longer use EU pet passports - they need an AHC. However:
- UK pets that already had EU pet passports issued before Brexit may still use them if the pet has not returned to the UK, and the pet is travelling within EU countries.
- UK pets that previously had EU passports but have since returned to the UK start again as non-EU animals and need AHCs for EU travel.
If you’re moving from the UK to an EU country and plan to stay, once your pet is in an EU country and you are resident there, an EU vet can add a new EU country entry to the animal’s record - or a new passport can be issued.
Non-EU, non-UK arrivals into the EU
Pets from countries outside the EU (other than the UK) enter the EU with an AHC in the EU format, issued by their origin country’s government authority. Once the pet is resident in an EU country, the vet can then issue an EU pet passport for future EU travel.