Frequently Asked Questions

The following information applies to dogs, cats and ferrets:

• The first step is to make sure your pet is microchipped. 
• Next, get your pet vaccinated for rabies by your own vet. This must be done at least 21 days before an Animal Health Certificate can be made an your pets microchip must be scanned before the rabies vaccine is given. 
• Contact Pet Travel Pass to request your Animal Health Certificate; please follow the instructions here and email our application form and evidence of your pets rabies vaccine and microchip check. Up to 5 pets belonging to the same owner can go on the same AHC.
• Your Animal Health Certificate must be issued less than 10 days before you plan to leave the UK and is valid for 120 days once you enter the EU
• An Animal Health Certificate is a single use document valid to leave the UK and return to the EU once only
• Dogs must be treated for tapeworm 24-120 hours before returning to the UK by an EU vet and the treatment entered on the Animal Health Certificate. If you are travelling to Ireland, Finland, Norway or Malta there is a requirement for dogs to be treated for tapeworm 24-120 hours before entering these countries. The treatment is not required to return to the UK directly from these countries. 
• Routine vaccinations are not required for pets to travel to the EU, only the rabies vaccine is require by law. Please note however that some camp sites in Europe may request evidence of routine vaccinations including the kennel cough vaccine for dogs.  If your pet is due their routine vaccines at the time of their rabies vaccine, it is important to note that the rabies vaccine is not licensed to be given on the same day as the Lepto4 and kennel cough vaccine in dogs and the FeLV vaccine in cats.

From the 1st January 2021, UK Pet Passports are no longer valid for travel to the EU and you will require an Animal Health Certificate (AHC) for your pet to travel. Like a pet passport, this document is used to prove that you are the owner of the pet, that your trip is for non-commercial reasons and that your pet meets the requirements for travel such as a valid rabies vaccination, confirmation of microchip scanning at the time of rabies vaccination and tapeworm treatments. Up to 5 pets belonging to the same owner can go on the same Animal Health Certificate and the AHC is valid for one return trip into the Eu

Our standard Animal Health Certificate costs £100 for the first pet with additional pets belonging to the same owner costing £30 per pet, up to 5 pets per Animal Health Certificate. Please note, this price only applies if you supply all the required paperwork 10 days or more before you require the Animal Health Certificate. 

• To clarify, we must receive all the correct documentation a minimum of 10days before you need the AHC; this does not mean 10 days from the first contact as there is often a delay getting the documentation we require from vets.  

Our fast-track Animal Health Certificate service (travelling 3-10 days from receiving the correct documents) is £130 and £30 for subsequent pets belonging to the same owner.

Our emergency Animal Health Certificate service (less than 48 hours between receiving the correct documents and your travel date) is £200 for the first pet and £50 for additional pets belonging to the same owner. 

Our repeat AHCs start from £80

Read more about fast-track and emergency Animal Health Certificates here

Pet Travel Pass is a low-cost, mobile certification service. Our Official Veterinarian works from home making certificates, then we meet up with you at convenient locations in the Nottingham area (e.g. hotels, retail parks etc) to issue the certificates. As we are not paying rent on a clinic building, we can pass substantial savings on to pet owners and our AHCs are typically less than half the price of local veterinary clinics. 

Depending on the day you collect your certificate, we will meet you at either Giltbrook Retail Park NG16 2RP near M1 junction 27 or Sherwood Business Park NG15 0EA near M1 junction 27. Our collection times are scheduled around our main in-clinic jobs and are typically Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Wednesday mornings and every other Saturday morning. During our busier summer months, we are available to issue certificates every day apart from Sundays. 

Please remember that the person named on the Animal Health Certificate will need to attend the collection and you will need to bring the pets named on the certificate so their microchip can be scanned and matched to the Animal Health Certificate.

Animal Health Certificates are valid to leave the UK for 10 days from the date of collection, however, we recommend collection no more than 8 days before the Animal Health Certificate is required, to allow for travel delays which could result in your certificate expiring. 

Your pets Animal Health Certificate can be used to enter the EU for up to 10 days from the date of collection. Please note, the AHC is valid for a single entry into the EU and cannot be re-used. 

Once inside the EU, a pet can travel within the EU for up to 120 days. Once the pet exits the EU, a new Animal Health Certificate is required to re-enter the EU.

If you wish to travel within the EU for longer than 120 days, you will require an EU vet to produce a GB Pet Health Certificate or EU pet passport to return to the UK. 

No. We are purely a pet export certification service.  Please get your pets rabies vaccine done at your local vets before asking them to send your pets medical records to us as evidence of the vaccine. 

We require 2 pieces of paperwork in order to make your pets Animal Health Certificate. The first is our simple AHC application form which you can find here. The second piece of information is evidence that your pet has a valid rabies vaccine and that their microchip was scanned and verified by your vet before the rabies vaccine was given. 

The easiest way to send evidence of rabies vaccination and microchip scanning is to ask your veterinary practice to email your pets clinical history to hello@pettravelpass.uk. We also accept previous Animal Health Certificates where no details have changed as well as existing UK pet passports. We may need to contact your vet if any clarification is required so we recommend starting the AHC process at least a month before you travel.

We cannot accept any document which does not state that the microchip was scanned at the time of rabies vaccination or hand written documents such as vaccine cards

Yes, our Official Veterinarian has been a vet for 15 years and a DEFRA authorised Official Veterinarian for 14 years. We are listed on the UK government approved list of export vets in the East Midlands area, which you can check here

Our Animal Health Certificates are such good value for money because we have a fraction of the overheads of a veterinary clinic. We collate the information we need to make your Animal Health Certificate online and produce your AHC from home, before issuing it to you as a mobile service which further keeps our prices down as we do not have the overheads of a practice building.

You can read our reviews on Google and Facebook for reassurance.

Animal Health Certificates are a complex, long document; typically at least 10 pages long. Each page of the document requires multiple stamps and signatures and a detailed knowledge of how to complete the certificate is needed to ensure mistakes are not made. They can only be completed by an Official Veterinarian, which is a particular qualification beyond a standard veterinary qualification. 

Each Animal Health Certificate typically takes an experienced vet an hour to complete, once all the required documents are supplied, but may take longer if multiple animals are added to the certificate.

Owners are often horrified by prices quoted by local veterinary practices for an Animal Health Certificate, and vets are often accused of profiteering and "ripping people off". However, please consider that during the hour an Official Veterinarian takes to complete the certificate, they could have treated 4-5 unwell pets or performed a life saving surgery. During that hour, nurses and reception staff still need their wages to be paid, expensive equipment needs to be paid for, drug stocks need to be maintained and the rent or mortgage on the practice needs to be paid. 

This is why online services such as Pet Travel Pass can offer such competitive prices for Animal Health Certificates; we have a fraction of the overheads of a traditional veterinary practice. 

In fact, our services are often used and recommended by veterinary practices in the Nottingham, Derby and South Yorkshire area so they can free up their vets precious clinical time for doing what they are trained to do; treating sick animals. 

Unfortunately due to misuse, we no longer advertise a telephone number on our website; we were receiving a huge volume of phone calls at all hours of the day and night either asking simple questions that are answered on our website or from people "wanting to check that we are real" as our prices are so low. Because we work in clinical practice alongside our Official Veterinarian duties, this was causing disruption to the care we were giving our patients, not to mention the stress caused by people phoning us at 10pm on a Sunday night to ask how much we charge for an AHC. 

When we have booked you in to collect your certificate, you will be given a our AHC collections phone number to contact us if you are running late or get lost on your way to our collection point. 

Please note that all the information you need to take your pet to the EU can be found on our website and we do not take bookings over the phone. Please read the following links:

• What you need to do to take your pet to the EU https://pettravelpass.uk/blog/f/a-beginners-guide-to-taking-your-dog-to-the-eu-in-2024
• How to apply for an Animal Health Certificate https://pettravelpass.uk/apply-for-an-ahc

APHA confirm that an AHC can be used for puppies and kittens travelling to the EU with their new owner as long as certain criteria are met:

1) The rabies vaccine and microchip check must be done in the new owners name

2) The "commercial transaction" (i.e. payment for the puppy/kitten) must take place in the UK

3) The new owner must be coming over to the UK to collect the puppy/kitten and be available to sign the AHC. This means that an AHC cannot be used when the puppy/kitten is travelling to their new owner in the EU with a pet courier or the breeder

Where any of these criteria cannot be met, an Export Health Certificate (EHC 8454) must be used instead. You can find more information about how to apply for an EHC here

An Animal Health Certificate can only be issued once 21 days have lapsed from the rabies vaccination, unless it was an in date booster..

You can contact us to order your pets Animal Health Certificate anytime after the rabies vaccine has been given, and we urge you to give plenty of notice but we will not be able to complete the Animal Health Certificate until 21 days have passed from the rabies vaccine, unless it was a booster. 

A maximum of 5 pets (dogs, cats or ferrets) belonging to the same owner can be added to a single Animal Health Certificate. The pets must all be owned by the same person who is named on the AHC and all the pets must be travelling together. An Animal Health Certificate cannot be used for commercial reasons e.g. a breeder sending puppies abroad for sale cannot use an Animal Health Certificate and an Export Health Certificate (EHC) is needed instead 

We do NOT accept receipts from your veterinary practice, microchip certificates or any document which does not state that the microchip was scanned when the vaccine was given. 

Scanning a pets microchip before giving the rabies vaccination is a vital part of the Animal Health Certificate as it proves that particular animal has been vaccinated for rabies. If we don't have evidence of this, we will not be able to make your Animal Health Certificate

If you don't have evidence of rabies vaccination and microchip scanning before vaccination, you can request that your vet emails a copy of your pet’s clinical history directly to us. This should include your pet’s description (name, breed, sex, date of birth, colour, microchip number), the vaccine’s information (brand and date administered) and it must be noted that the microchip was verified at the time of vaccination.

Unfortunately, if we are not able to verify your pets rabies vaccination and microchip scanning at time of vaccination we will not be able to make your pets Animal Health Certificate.

The owner named on the Animal Health Certificate will need to come to collect the certificate along with the pet(s) named on the certificate so their microchip can be scanned and verified to be reading correctly. 

If you have questions about the requirements to enter non- EU countries, please contact the UK government Pet Travel Helpline at pettravel@apha.gov.uk or 0370 241 1710. 

We are often able to produce AHCs at short notice, provided all the information required is supplied correctly. Please note, there is an additional charge for AHCs produced at short notice; click here to read more about our emergency Animal Health Certificates

No, we are unable to post Animal Health Certificates. The APHA rules state that we must physically scan your pet’s microchip and witness the person who is named on the AHC (the owner) signing the document.

Collection is from close to junction 27 or 26 of the M1. You must bring your pet to the collection and the person named on the certificate must come to the collection point with their pet to sign the Animal Health Certificate 

The Animal Health Certificate must be collected by the owner who is named on the document. We also need to scan your pet’s microchip on the day of collection so both the named owner and the pet(s) need to be physically present at the collection point. 

No, this is not a requirement for issuing an Animal Health Certificate. We only need to scan your pets microchip. Despite it's name, an Animal Health Certificate is not a health check, it is an official document which proves to the EU authorities that your pet is identifiable by their microchip and has had a valid rabies vaccine.

Some airlines require a “Fit to Fly” certificate which is an additional piece of paperwork, separate from an Animal Health Certificate. We may be able to help with this, please contact us if you require a Fit to Fly certificate. 

As part of the EU pet travel scheme, dogs require treating for tapeworm 24-120 hours before returning to Great Britain from the EU. Only an approved tapeworm treatment can be used and the treatment has to be witnessed by and verified on your pet Animal Health Certificates by a veterinary surgeon. Typically, this is done in the EU before you return from holiday but if you are only going for a short trip, this can be done in the UK. 

There are also some notable exceptions to the tape worming rules; if you are going from Great Britain to Ireland, Norway, Finland or Malta, your dog will need treating for tapeworm 24-120 hours BEFORE they leave Great Britain and not when they return.

We are able to offer this service by prior arrangement only and at an additional fee of £10 for dogs up to 10kg and £20 for dogs up to 20kg and £30 for dogs over 30kg including worming treatment. 

Please note: This service is only available by prior arrangement and we require your dogs bodyweight in advance of certificate collection so we can bring the correct treatment to your collection appointment. Tapeworm treatment is not required for cats or ferrets.

It is important to note that there is no one "perfect" way to complete an Animal Health Certificate; they can be hand written or typed. The stamps may be red or blue and some vets may put more stamps on certain pages than others. Paragraphs may be crossed out with a Z or using individual lines and the number of pages may vary. The last page (evidence of rabies vaccine) can be a copy of clinical history, a photocopy of a vaccine card or passport or a rabies vaccine certificate. Neither variation is right or wrong.

As government Official Veterinarian work is our main job, we always ensure  our knowledge of the certification process is kept up to date and the process we use to make Animal Health Certificates is based on the latest guidance from DEFRA. We have made many hundreds of Animal Health Certificates since they were released in January 2021 and we regularly receive positive feedback from Eurotunnel and ferry companies on how well our Animal Health Certificates are completed. 

We are authorised to issue Fit to Fly certificates and Export Health Certificates however our availability for these is seasonal and depends on how busy we are with Animal Health Certificates. Please contact us for a quote for an Export Health Certificate as each certificate varies in its requirements.