Pet Transport from the UK to Hong Kong

Hong Kong revised its groupings on 1 December 2024, keeping Groups I and II as they were, renaming the old Group III as Group IIIB, and creating a new Group IIIA.

Group I is the rabies-free list above. Group II is a long roster covering most of western Europe, Canada, the USA, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and others. Group IIIA holds the Chinese Mainland, Hungary, Lithuania, Macao, Malaysia and Thailand. Group IIIB is everywhere else.

The higher groups face AFCD’s rabies neutralising antibody test: blood collected not less than 90 days and not more than one year before export, at least 30 days after a primary vaccination, tested at an AFCD-approved laboratory by FAVN or RFFIT to a result of at least 0.5 IU/ml. That is a three-month clock before the animal can even leave.

A British pet is not in that position. What we could not read directly when checking this page was AFCD’s Group I application procedure itself, so rather than assert that no vaccination or testing at all is required, the honest instruction is to confirm your animal’s exact conditions with AFCD at the point of application. What is clearly published is the group your pet is in and the quarantine position that follows from it.

AFCD is unambiguous that dogs and cats should not be brought into Hong Kong unless a Special Permit has been obtained in advance. It is applied for on the prescribed form, with a fee of HK$432 for the first animal and HK$102 for each additional animal, and a stated minimum of three working days for processing.

Treat three working days as a floor rather than a plan. Apply early, and certainly before committing to a flight date you cannot move.

One correction worth making here, because it circulates widely: that HK$432 figure is an import fee. It applies to bringing an animal into Hong Kong. A number of pet-transport guides reproduce it on Hong Kong departure pages, where it has no business being, and owners then budget for a fee they will never be charged. If you are reading about a move in the other direction, ignore it.

On microchips, life got simpler recently: AFCD adopted the ISO 11784/11785 15-digit standard on 1 August 2025, so the chip your British vet implanted is the chip Hong Kong wants.

Two airlines matter on this sector and one of them has stepped back entirely.

Cathay Pacific is the natural carrier, and since 1 September 2025 it accepts pet bookings only from IPATA or ATA members, IATA Accredited Freight Forwarders, or people holding a valid IATA Live Animals Regulations training certificate. Appointing an accredited shipper is therefore step one of the practical move rather than an optional convenience, and its fee belongs in the budget from the start.

British Airways moves live animals as manifested cargo through IAG Cargo, with enquiries routed to a pet travel partner rather than handled alongside your own ticket. Virgin Atlantic does not currently carry pets at all, service dogs excepted.

If your dog is snub-nosed, ask about the return leg before you commit to the move. Cathay accepts brachycephalic breeds on only three routes in its whole network and only from January to May and October to December, and Hong Kong to London Heathrow is one of those three. That is good news if you ever come back, but it means the window is narrow and worth understanding early rather than discovering in two years’ time.