Pet Transport from Italy to the USA
Seventy-five kilograms. That is ITA Airways’ limit for a pet and its carrier together in the hold, and it is among the most generous figures anywhere on the Atlantic. For an owner with a large dog, that number decides more than any regulation does, …
The Italy to United States import process
Every step must be completed in sequence. A single missed deadline can add months to your timeline. We own the entire process.
Responsible: You
Responsible: You + airline
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: You
Which United States rules depend on a pet coming from Italy?
The United States sorts countries into 2 groups, and Italy falls in “Dog rabies-free or low-risk countries”.
Dog has been only in these countries for 6 months before entry: CDC Dog Import Form receipt (valid 6 months), age 6 months, microchip, healthy; any airport, seaport or land border. Official source
These rules apply to that group, on top of the rules every pet follows:
- Import permit: For dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries, the receipt is valid 6 months unless the dog visits a high-risk country or a different low-risk country in that time. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Health certificate: No document beyond the CDC Dog Import Form receipt is listed for dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Health certificate: Not required: CDC does not require a general health certificate for pets (cats, and dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries). Airlines and some states may still ask for one.
Bringing an Animal into the U.S., checked 2 October 2026 - Rabies vaccination: CDC recommends, but for dogs only from rabies-free or low-risk countries does not list as an entry requirement, rabies vaccination. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Bringing a Dog into the United States, checked 2 October 2026 - How your pet may travel: Not required: no federal restriction on mode of travel for dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries; they may arrive by air, sea or land. Cabin, checked baggage or cargo is an airline matter. (Seattle's CDC facility takes cargo-only reservations, and the LAX facilities prefer cargo, for high-risk dogs.) Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Arrival points and notice: Dogs only in rabies-free or low-risk countries may enter at any airport, seaport or land border. Applies to dogs from rabies-free or low-risk countries.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026
One rule for every pet entering the United States decides whether yours can travel at all:
- Minimum age: Every dog must be at least 6 months old on entry or return to the US.
Entry Requirements for Dogs from Dog-Rabies Free or Low-Risk Countries, checked 2 October 2026 - Minimum age: Not listed: cats. CDC's cat section requires only that cats appear healthy on arrival (they may be inspected, examined at the owner's cost if ill, or refused if they show a zoonotic disease); rabies vaccination proof is not required. APHIS states it has no animal health requirements for pet cats (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel/another-country-to-us-import/cats). Neither sets a minimum age; destination states may.
Bringing an Animal into the U.S., checked 2 October 2026
The rules that apply to every pet entering the United States, whatever the origin, are listed with their official sources in our United States guide.
What does Italy require before your pet leaves?
- Export health certificate: For travel to a non-EU country, any health certificate needed is issued by the veterinary service of the owner's local health authority (ASL); requirements depend on the destination, so check with that country's embassy (Ministry of Health page updated 3 January 2025). Applies to dogs and cats leaving Italy for non-EU countries.
In viaggio all'estero - Paesi Terzi (aggiornato il 03/01/2025), checked 2 October 2026 - Export health certificate: ASL Roma 1 (page updated 5 March 2026) confirms that travel with a dog, cat or ferret to a non-EU country requires the international export certificate issued by the competent authority, which in Italy is the ASL. Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets leaving Italy for a non-EU country.
Certificato di Espatrio, checked 1 October 2026 - Other conditions: The Ministry of Health says the pet passport is needed to travel outside Italy, together with any health document or certificate the destination country requires (page updated 3 January 2025). Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets leaving Italy.
Consigli utili per viaggiare con i nostri animali, checked 2 October 2026 - Other conditions: Italian customs (ADM traveller's customs guide, July 2025, section on travel to and from non-EU countries) say dogs, cats and ferrets may cross national borders only if older than three months, unless the competent authority grants a derogation for specific cases. Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets crossing Italian borders, including leaving for non-EU countries.
Carta doganale del viaggiatore (July 2025), checked 2 October 2026 - Other conditions: The ASL charges for the export certificate (certificato di espatrio). Example from ASL Roma 1 (page updated 5 March 2026): EUR 27 for the SIP-system certificate outside the EU, EUR 60 when the destination country's form is used, EUR 80 for Australia, and EUR 40 for a clinical visit with microchip reading. The page does not give the charges of other ASLs. Applies to dogs, cats and ferrets registered in ASL Roma 1 and leaving for a non-EU country.
Certificato di Espatrio, checked 1 October 2026
What this route typically costs
Critical points
Since 1 December 2025 ITA Airways carries dogs and cats only. Other species that were previously accepted no longer are, so an older guide may send you to a check-in desk that will refuse the animal.
The six-month minimum age is a CDC rule and airlines apply it at the gate. A five-month-old puppy does not fly, whatever else is in order.
US carriers have largely stopped carrying civilian pets in the hold across the Atlantic. Check the operating carrier, not just the flight number.
The EU pet passport is not a US entry document. It matters for the return journey, so do not let the rabies cover lapse just because the American border does not ask.
Approved carriers for this route
Not all airlines accept live animals. We book only with carriers that handle live animal cargo correctly.
What ITA changed on 1 December 2025
ITA Airways now carries dogs and cats only, in both the cabin and the hold, from a minimum age of three months. That date matters: guidance written before it may list other species that the airline no longer accepts.
In the cabin on international flights, the limit is 8kg for pet and carrier combined, in a soft, well-ventilated carrier closed on all sides that fits under the seat in front. Note the difference from ITA’s domestic rule, which is more generous at 10kg for the animal plus 2kg for the carrier. The transatlantic figure is the lower one.
In the hold, pet and carrier together may reach 75kg in a pressurised, air-conditioned compartment.
Set that against the field. Iberia’s hold tops out around 45kg. Most carriers that will take a pet as checked baggage cap it at 32kg. And the US flag carriers have largely stepped back from civilian pets in the hold on transatlantic routes altogether. For a Mastiff, a Bernese or a large shepherd leaving Rome, ITA is not merely the convenient option; it may be the only scheduled one that does not require a cargo agent.
Fees are published from around 105 USD on international routes and rise with the weight band. Confirm the figure for your own animal when you book rather than budgeting from a headline number.
The American requirement, in full
Submit the CDC Dog Import Form online, free, at any point in the six months before travel, and print the receipt. Carry a microchip a universal scanner can read. Make sure the dog is at least six months old on the arrival date. Present a healthy animal.
That is the complete list.
No rabies titre, because Italy is not high-risk. No screwworm inspection in the final five days, because Italy is not on the APHIS screwworm-affected list. Italy also appears among the regions APHIS treats as free of foot-and-mouth disease subject to restrictions.
The six-month age rule is the one to watch, because it is enforced at check-in rather than at the border. Families moving with a puppy acquired shortly before the relocation are the usual casualties, and there is no discretion in it.
Rabies vaccination and the journey home
The CDC does not require a rabies vaccination for a dog from a low-risk country such as Italy. Keep it current anyway.
Airlines write their own conditions of carriage and commonly ask for current rabies cover regardless of the border rule. US states set their own requirements for resident animals. And the return journey to the EU runs on the vaccination record in the pet passport, where an unbroken chain of cover is the thing that keeps the trip simple.
That passport, incidentally, has no standing at the American border. It is a European document and no US official requires it. Carry it because the airline will want the vaccination record inside it and because it is the animal’s history, not because it is an entry document.
Choosing between a nonstop and a hub
ITA flies Rome and Milan to several US cities nonstop, and for a pet that directness is worth paying for: one loading, one unloading, no risk of a missed connection with an animal in a crate somewhere in between.
Where the ITA schedule does not fit, Lufthansa via Frankfurt is the usual alternative, with a dedicated animal lounge at the hub that handles transiting animals properly. It excludes brachycephalic breeds from cargo, so that is the first question to ask if your dog is snub-nosed.
What is worth checking in every case is who actually operates the aircraft. A ticket sold by one airline and flown by another can carry different pet rules, and the transatlantic market is full of codeshares. The animal travels under the operating carrier’s policy, not the one on your booking confirmation.
Common questions
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Requirements on this page were checked against the authorities below. Rules change, so confirm current conditions with the relevant authority before you travel.
- USDA APHIS · United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
- CDC · United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dog import rules
- IATA · International Air Transport Association, Live Animals Regulations