Pet Transport Saudi Arabia to USA
Saudi Arabia does not appear on the CDC’s high-risk rabies country list, which removes the entire apparatus most owners dread: no rabies titre test, no reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility, no 28-day quarantine, and entry permitted at any …
The Saudi Arabia 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 + airline
Responsible: You + MEWA
Responsible: Your veterinarian
Responsible: Official government veterinarian
Responsible: You
Responsible: You
Which United States rules depend on a pet coming from Saudi Arabia?
The United States sorts countries into 2 groups, and Saudi Arabia 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 Saudi Arabia require before your pet leaves?
- Export permit: Pets travelling with their owners can get an exit-and-return permit on the Anaam platform, with a return period not exceeding 60 days. Applies to resident dogs and cats leaving and returning with travellers.
Pets Importing procedures, checked 2 October 2026 - Export permit: MEWA news item (2019): owners taking pets abroad must obtain an export permit from the General Directorate of Agricultural Affairs for the region of the exit port, bringing all veterinary certificates well before travel. Applies to dogs and cats leaving Saudi Arabia.
Live animal import licence electronically, completed in 3 days (news), checked 2 October 2026 - Export health certificate: MEWA's Conditions for exporting pets (undated): apply through the Anaam platform with the importing country's permit and health requirements and a veterinary health certificate from a Ministry-accredited clinic, approved by the Ministry branch or office where the pet is located, stating the animal was clinically and laboratory examined and found free of disease, especially rabies and toxoplasmosis. The export permission is valid 30 days. Applies to dogs and cats leaving Saudi Arabia.
Conditions for exporting pets, checked 2 October 2026 - Other conditions: Per the USDA APHIS-hosted unofficial translation of the Saudi requirements (April 2021): the rabies vaccination's validity is checked when entry and return permits are issued. MEWA's Naama pet entry and exit permit guide (no text layer, read visually) sets the condition that the remaining period of the rabies vaccination is not less than six months. Applies to dogs and cats leaving Saudi Arabia.
Revised Saudi Pets Imports Requirements April 2021 Unofficial Translation, checked 2 October 2026
What this route typically costs
Critical points
Saudi Arabia is NOT on the CDC's high-risk rabies list, so there is no titre test, no facility reservation and no quarantine. But neighbouring Kuwait IS on the list: a Gulf-resident dog that spent any of the previous six months in Kuwait falls onto the full high-risk pathway, which changes the entire timeline.
MEWA imposes two separate deadlines: submit the application at least 15 days before shipment, and hold the permit at least one month before shipping. Applying six weeks out satisfies both; most guides quote only one deadline.
Saudia will not carry a dog in the cabin under any circumstances. Cabin carriage is limited to cats and small birds up to 5kg, and pets are refused entirely on AB300, MD90 and B737 aircraft because those holds lack temperature control.
Approved carriers for this route
Not all airlines accept live animals. We book only with carriers that handle live animal cargo correctly.
The MEWA permit, and its two clocks
Saudi Arabia’s pets export permission is free, which is welcome, and it is applied for through the ministry’s e-services. One practical note before you start: the old MEWA e-services address now redirects to naama.sa, the unified environment, water and agriculture platform, so owners hunting for the portal under its former name will land somewhere that looks unfamiliar.
The deadlines are the part to get right. The application must be submitted at least fifteen days before shipment, and the permit must be held at least one month before shipping. Those are two different requirements rather than one restated, and satisfying both means applying roughly six weeks ahead. Most guides quote only the second.
Citizens, residents and companies may all apply, and MEWA reserves discretionary authority to add requirements where it judges there is a disease-transmission risk, so treat its response as the governing word rather than any third-party summary.
Screwworm, and a rule about Kuwait
Two things apply to a Saudi dog that have nothing to do with the CDC’s rabies framework.
The first is screwworm. Saudi Arabia sits on the APHIS list of affected regions, alongside Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Yemen, so a dog needs a certificate from an official government veterinarian confirming inspection within five days before shipment. It is a separate legal requirement, enforced by USDA rather than CDC, and it is the tightest scheduling window on the route.
The second is foot-and-mouth. Saudi Arabia is not on the APHIS FMD-free list, so on arrival the dog’s fur and bedding must be free of excessive dirt, hay or straw, the animal must be bathed as soon as it reaches its destination, and it must be kept away from all livestock for five days. There is no paperwork attached: this is an instruction to you, not a certificate to chase.
And one trap worth checking before anything else. Kuwait is on the CDC’s high-risk list while Saudi Arabia is not. If your dog spent any part of the previous six months in Kuwait, the CDC treats it as coming from a high-risk country, which brings back the titre, the endorsed vaccination certification and the facility reservation. Gulf-resident families move around the region routinely, so this is a real risk rather than a theoretical one.
Getting a dog onto an aircraft
Saudia flies nonstop from Riyadh and Jeddah to New York JFK and Washington Dulles, and from Jeddah to Los Angeles. Its cabin is closed to dogs entirely: only cats and small birds up to 5kg including the carrier may travel there, plus hooded falcons with a handler. Every dog goes in the hold.
Two Saudia details matter at booking. Pets are refused on the AB300, MD90 and B737 because those holds lack temperature control, which can matter on a domestic positioning leg to Riyadh or Jeddah. And the airline’s widely quoted 100 dollar cabin and 300 dollar hold fees explicitly exclude the United States and Canada. US routes are priced at twice the excess-baggage piece rate for the destination, so the number you find online will not be the number you pay. Booking is not available online at all: you contact the Saudia sales office in your departure city.
The hub alternatives are Qatar Airways via Doha, which takes cats and dogs as checked baggage at roughly 200 to 350 dollars up to 32kg and 300 to 450 above it, and Emirates via Dubai as manifest cargo. United and Delta carry no civilian pets, so the American carriers are not options.
Because Saudi Arabia is low-risk, you may land anywhere. JFK, Dulles and Los Angeles all happen to host CDC-registered facilities, but you are not obliged to use them, and no facility booking is needed.
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
- MEWA · Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia