Moving your pet from Georgia to United Kingdom?

The Georgia–United Kingdom route requires quarantine on arrival, so planning well ahead matters. In plain terms, this is a high route, meaning there are several regulatory hurdles to clear, and most owners work with a specialist agent.

Most owners start the process around 22-28 weeks before the flight date. That window is not arbitrary — it accounts for vaccination waiting periods, titre test processing, and document endorsement.

Here is how the preparation unfolds from start to travel day:

Costs vary considerably depending on your pet's size, the airline, and whether you use a pet relocation agent. The main factors to price up are:

• Airline cargo fees Tbilisi to London: approximately USD 500-1,100 depending on carrier and pet size
• IATA-compliant travel crate
• Veterinary fees: microchip, vaccination, titre test, health certificate
• Titre test at EU/UK approved laboratory
• Tapeworm treatment (dogs)
• IPATA-registered agent fee if used

Microchip: Required (ISO 11784/11785). Must be implanted before rabies vaccination.

Rabies vaccination: Required and current at time of travel.

Titre test: Required. Blood drawn at least 30 days after vaccination. Result at least 0.5 IU/ml at an EU/UK approved laboratory. 3-month wait from blood draw date.

Health certificate: Georgia NFA-endorsed official health certificate. Valid 10 days.

Quarantine: No quarantine if documentation is complete. Non-compliant animals may be refused entry or held at owner's expense.

Export permit: Georgia's National Food Agency (NFA) under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture oversees animal health exports. An NFA-endorsed official health certificate is required.

Export health certificate: Issued by an official veterinarian in Georgia and endorsed by the National Food Agency (NFA). Must include microchip number, vaccination history, and titre test results. Valid 10 days.

Several airlines serve routes between Georgia and United Kingdom, each with different policies on pets in cabin versus cargo hold:

Georgia is not on the UK’s approved country list. The full protocol applies: ISO microchip implanted before vaccination, current rabies vaccination, titre test at an EU/UK approved laboratory (blood drawn 30+ days post-vaccination, result at least 0.5 IU/ml), 3-month wait from blood draw date, tapeworm treatment for dogs 24-120 hours before UK arrival, and Georgia National Food Agency-endorsed health certificate valid 10 days.

The 3-month wait is calculated from the date blood was drawn, recorded on the laboratory certificate. This date is fixed and cannot be shortened by any means.

Source: UK APHA, gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain.

The rabies titre test must be performed at an EU/UK approved laboratory. Georgia itself may not have an approved laboratory, which means blood samples often need to be shipped to a lab in Turkey, Germany, or another approved country.

Your vet draws the blood in Tbilisi and ships it in appropriate cold-chain packaging to the approved lab. Allow 2-3 weeks for sample transit and results return. The 3-month wait starts from the date blood was drawn, not the date results arrived, so dispatch the sample quickly.

Some IPATA agents in the Caucasus region maintain relationships with specific approved labs and can advise on the fastest option. This is one area where an agent saves meaningful time.

• Pet Transport UK to Georgia