Pet Transport from Thailand to the USA

Thailand is on the CDC’s high-risk list for dog rabies, so the CDC Dog Import Form alone is not enough. A foreign-vaccinated dog needs its rabies vaccination and microchip certified on the …

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12-20

Weeks lead time needed

Start this early minimum

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Quarantine on arrival

Very High

Route complexity

Airlines on this route

Lead time needed

12-20 weeks

Quarantine

Check guide

Route complexity

Very High

Airlines

4 carriers on this route

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In short: Preparing to move a pet from Thailand to United States typically takes around 12-20 weeks.

Regulations checked September 2026

Prepared and reviewed by Marcus Webb, Senior Pet Relocation Consultant

Step by step

The Thailand to United States import process

Start of planning.

Confirm the ISO microchip pre-dates the rabies vaccination, and that the dog will be at least 6 months old on the day it lands in the USA.

Responsible: Vet

At least 30 days before the blood draw.

Rabies vaccination, with the microchip already in place. The 30-day clock runs from the first valid vaccination, not from a later booster.

Responsible: DLD-authorised vet

Determines the earliest US entry date.

Serology blood draw, then testing at a CDC-approved laboratory. Result at least 0.5 IU/ml, drawn 28 or more days before US entry. Ask where the sample is tested and how long the result takes before you fix a travel date.

Responsible: Your vet draws the sample, a CDC-approved laboratory tests it

Before travel.

Complete CDC Dog Import Form online.

Responsible: Owner

4-8 weeks before travel.

Pick the arrival airport from the six that host a CDC-registered facility, then book the cargo routing and the facility reservation together for that same airport.

Responsible: Owner or agent

Within 30 days of departure.

Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip completed by your vet and endorsed by DLD. Valid 30 days from signature, so time it to the flight.

Responsible: DLD-authorised vet and DLD

Within 10 days of departure.

DLD health certificate issued and endorsed. Original only, no photocopies or scans.

Responsible: DLD vet

Travel day.

Pet arrives at CDC-registered facility. CDC inspection.

Responsible: CDC facility

Requirements

United States entry requirements

Every item below must be in place before your pet can enter. We verify and track each one.

Microchip

ISO-compatible microchip. Must be implanted before the rabies vaccination. A vaccination given before the chip does not count.

Rabies vaccination

Required, and certified on the CDC Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, completed by your vet and endorsed by an official government veterinarian (DLD in Thailand), valid 30 days from signature. Dogs must be at least 6 months old at US entry. Cats have no CDC rabies requirement.

Rabies titre test

Thailand is a high-risk dog rabies country. A foreign-vaccinated dog needs either a rabies serology result of at least 0.5 IU/ml from a CDC-approved laboratory, blood drawn at least 30 days after the first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before US entry, or a four-week stay at the CDC-registered facility on arrival at the owner's cost. Most owners take the titre route.

Quarantine

Depends on the titre. With a valid CDC-approved titre the CDC-registered facility processes the dog and releases it, usually the same day. Without one the dog is held at that facility for four weeks at the owner's cost. Either way the reservation must be booked before travel, the dog must land by air at the airport where its own facility sits (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia or Washington Dulles), and no domestic US connection is allowed before the facility releases it. No land border, no Alaska, Hawaii or US territories.

Import permit

CDC Dog Import Form required for all dogs. Free, completed via the CDC portal before travel. It is a receipt rather than a permit, and it does not replace the Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip.

Leaving Thailand

Export requirements

Health certificate

DLD-endorsed health certificate from a DLD-authorised vet. US-compatible format. Original only, no photocopies or scans. Issued within 10 days of departure. For a dog, DLD must also endorse the CDC Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip, which is a separate document with its own 30-day validity from signature.

Costs

What this route typically costs

CDC serology test at an approved laboratory, plus sample shipping if it is tested outside Thailand

DLD health certificate, and DLD endorsement of the CDC vaccination certification form

IATA-compliant crate

Cargo fee: BKK to a CDC facility airport

CDC facility reservation and arrival handling

Four-week facility stay if no accepted titre is presented, charged per day to the owner

Agent fee

Critical points

Thailand is high-risk for CDC. The CDC-registered facility reservation is mandatory for every foreign-vaccinated dog. The serology titre is not: the alternative is a four-week stay at that facility on arrival, billed per day to you, which is why almost everyone takes the titre.

Dogs must be at least 6 months old at US entry. No amount of paperwork cures a younger puppy, so check the arrival date against your dog's date of birth before you start.

Your dog must land at the airport where its reserved facility sits: Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia or Washington Dulles. No domestic US connection is allowed before the facility releases it, so book the cargo and the facility together, at the same airport.

There is no direct Bangkok to US service carrying live animals. Your pet transits an Asian hub, most commonly Hong Kong. Verify the facility list at cdc.gov before booking, because it changes.

The 28-day gap between blood draw and US entry is a firm requirement, and the sample may have to travel to a CDC-approved laboratory abroad. Confirm where your sample is tested and how long results take before you fix a travel date.

Airlines

Approved carriers on this route

Airline	Notes	Type
Thai Airways	Thai Airways Cargo from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) to US cities via connections. No direct BKK-US routes; connects via hubs. Confirm live animal availability on your specific routing.	Cargo Only
United Airlines	United PetSafe cargo from BKK via connecting routes to US hubs. Temperature-controlled. Seasonal and breed restrictions apply.	Cargo Only
Delta	Delta Cargo from BKK via Asian hubs to US cities. Good transpacific coverage. Confirm routing and live animal availability.	Cargo Only
Cathay Pacific	Via HKG. BKK to HKG, then onward to US cities. Strong live animal handling at Hong Kong. Popular BKK-US routing.	Cargo Only

At a glance: Thailand to USA vs. comparable Southeast Asian routes

Requirement	Thailand to USA	Singapore to USA	Malaysia to USA	Vietnam to USA
CDC risk category	High-risk	Low-risk	High-risk	High-risk
Serology test	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
CDC facility required	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
CDC Dog Import Form	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cats (federal)	No requirement	No requirement	No requirement	No requirement
Complexity	Very high	Low-moderate	Very high	Very high

Singapore’s low-risk CDC status is what separates it from its neighbours: no titre, no facility reservation, no arrival-airport restriction. Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam all sit on the high-risk side with the same extra requirements. These classifications are set by the CDC and they do change, so confirm the current status for your own country at cdc.gov before planning around this table.

Airline comparison: Thailand to USA

Airline	Route	Pet policy	Transit	Notes
Cathay Pacific	BKK to US via HKG	Cargo only	1 stop (HKG)	Popular Thailand-US routing. Strong live animal handling at HKG
United	BKK to US via hubs	Cargo only	1-2 stops	PetSafe. Connections from BKK through Asian gateways to US
Delta	BKK to US via hubs	Cargo only	1-2 stops	Via Asian hubs. Confirm specific routing and live animal slots
Thai Airways	BKK to US via connections	Cargo only	1-2 stops	Via partner connections. No nonstop of its own, so more handovers than the Cathay routing

Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong is the most-used routing for Thailand-US pet moves. HKG has strong live animal cargo infrastructure and good transpacific connections to US CDC-facility airports.

The difference between high-risk and low-risk CDC entry for Thailand

The practical difference between high-risk and low-risk CDC entry is large. For a dog from Singapore (low-risk), the CDC process is: fill in the CDC Dog Import Form, confirm the microchip, be at least six months old, appear healthy. Done, and any US airport will do.

For a dog from Thailand (high-risk), add three things. A Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip, completed by your vet and endorsed by DLD, which expires 30 days after signature. A pre-booked reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility, which is compulsory whatever the titre says. And then a choice: either a serology result of at least 0.5 IU/ml from a CDC-approved laboratory, with blood drawn at least 30 days after the first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before US entry, or a four-week stay at that facility on arrival at your own cost. Most owners take the titre because it is far cheaper, but it is a choice, not a wall.

The CDC-registered facility receives your dog on arrival, coordinates with CDC inspectors for the health check, and releases the dog to you once cleared. With an accepted titre that is typically same-day, and you need to be at the airport to collect. Without one it is a four-week stay, billed per day to you. Until the facility releases the dog it cannot take a domestic US flight, so choose the facility airport nearest your final destination rather than the cheapest routing, and book the flight and the facility as one decision.

If your dog already has a passing serology result from a previous move, it may still stand, but only if the vaccination cover behind it has never lapsed and the result came from a CDC-approved laboratory against the same microchip number. Your vet in Thailand does not decide that. Check with the CDC and with the facility you have booked before you rely on it, because the cost of a rejected result is the four-week stay, not a repeated blood test.

FAQ

Common questions about this route

Not strictly, but the alternative is worse. Thailand is classified as high-risk for dog rabies by the CDC, and a foreign-vaccinated dog from a high-risk country needs either a serology result of at least 0.5 IU/ml from a CDC-approved laboratory, with blood drawn at least 30 days after the first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before US entry, or a four-week stay at the CDC-registered facility on arrival at your own cost. The facility reservation is compulsory either way, and the dog must be at least 6 months old. Almost everyone takes the titre.

There are no direct Bangkok-US cargo services that carry live animals with the required handling. Your pet will transit via a hub, most commonly Hong Kong (Cathay Pacific) or through another Asian or Pacific gateway. This adds transit handling time, but the major hubs used on this route all have capable live animal facilities.

No federal documentation is required for cats entering the continental USA from Thailand. Your airline will require a health certificate from a DLD-authorised vet, typically issued within 10 days of departure. If your destination is Hawaii, the state HDOA quarantine rules apply separately to cats.

You must arrive at a US airport with a CDC-registered animal care facility, reserved before travel. The CDC’s current list names seven facilities across six airports: Atlanta, Los Angeles (which has two facilities), Miami, New York JFK, Philadelphia and Washington Dulles. San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Newark and Houston are not on it. Your dog must land at the airport where its own reserved facility sits, and no domestic US connection is permitted before the facility releases it, so pick the facility airport nearest your final destination and book the cargo and the facility together. Verify the live list at cdc.gov before booking, because it changes.

Two waits are fixed: 30 days from the first valid rabies vaccination to the blood draw, and 28 days from the blood draw to US entry. That is 58 days, about eight and a half weeks, and it is the regulatory floor. The 12 to 20 weeks on this page is a planning allowance on top of it, not a rule: it covers laboratory turnaround, the DLD endorsement, the CDC certification form, the facility reservation and cargo availability, none of which have a fixed length. If your date is tight, get the vaccination and the blood draw booked first and run everything else in parallel.

Airline guides

Thai Airways
United Airlines
Delta
Cathay Pacific

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Sources

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