SHORT ANSWER
To enter France from the United States, your dog or cat needs three things: an ISO-compliant microchip, a valid rabies vaccination given after that microchip was implanted and scanned, and an EU health certificate issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by USDA APHIS within 10 days of your pet's arrival in the EU. A first (primary) rabies vaccine needs at least 21 days to become valid before your pet can travel. Pets flying without their owner or a designated person, or groups of six or more, use the commercial version of the certificate instead. Because the U.S. is on the EU's list of approved countries, APHIS lists no rabies titer test, import permit, or tapeworm treatment for France. One exception applies only to dogs: France prohibits the import of Category 1 "attack dogs" entirely.
France does not run a separate pet import program for dogs and cats arriving from the U.S. It applies the European Union's harmonized rules. When pets travel with their owners for non-commercial reasons, those rules are set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131, and they focus on controlling rabies.
France takes that risk seriously. The French Ministry of Agriculture states that France is free of rabies and that every recent rabies case in the country involved an animal infected abroad and brought in. The ministry also warns that bringing in a dog or cat without meeting the health conditions can lead to fines.
The good news for U.S. families is the titer test. The EU keeps a list of non-EU countries whose pets can enter without a rabies antibody titration test, and the USDA APHIS requirements for France include no titer test for dogs, cats, or ferrets leaving the U.S. That removes the multi-month waiting period that pet owners face for destinations like Australia.
Your pet's microchip is the identity that every other document ties back to, and the order of events matters. According to APHIS, your pet must have a working microchip before it receives the rabies vaccination used for EU travel, and your veterinarian must scan the chip before giving that vaccine.
A few details to confirm with your vet:
If your pet was vaccinated for rabies before it was chipped, that vaccine does not count for France. Your vet will need to scan the chip and give a new rabies vaccine, which restarts the waiting period described below.
The rabies vaccine is the only vaccination France requires for dogs and cats coming from the U.S., but EU rules treat it differently than your local vet might. APHIS breaks the rules into two categories.
Primary vaccination. This is the first rabies shot your pet receives after microchipping, or the first shot after any lapse in coverage. After a primary vaccine, your pet must wait at least 21 days, or the manufacturer's recommended immunity period if longer, before traveling. Some manufacturers recommend 30 days, so ask your vet to confirm and record the correct period. For pets vaccinated in the U.S., a primary vaccine is valid for EU travel for only 1 year, even if your pet is an adult and received a 3-year product.
Booster vaccination. A booster is any rabies vaccine given within 1 year of the primary. Boosters are valid for 1 to 3 years depending on the manufacturer, and your pet can travel right away with no 21-day wait, as long as the primary vaccine is also listed on the health certificate. A lapse of even one day turns the next shot back into a primary.
If your pet's most recent shot is a booster, you must carry every relevant rabies certificate to prove there was no gap in coverage. APHIS offers a simpler route: ask your vet for a fresh 1-year rabies vaccine, given after scanning the microchip, ideally 3 to 6 months before travel. That way one certificate covers the trip regardless of your pet's earlier history.
Only once its rabies vaccine is valid. The European Commission's table of young animal exemptions lists France as "No," and states that young dogs, cats, and ferrets cannot be moved into the EU from a non-EU country for any purpose. In practice, your puppy or kitten must be old enough to receive a rabies vaccine, and then must complete the 21-day wait, before it can fly to France.
Many families over-prepare because they assume every destination works like Australia. For a dog or cat traveling from the U.S. to France, the APHIS France page lists no requirement for:
That does not mean other vaccines are unimportant. Your vet may still recommend keeping your pet current on core vaccines for its health, and boarding facilities, groomers, or airlines may have their own rules. They are simply not part of France's entry check.
Quarantine is also not routine. APHIS warns that pets that do not meet the EU rabies requirements may be refused entry or quarantined at the owner's expense, which is why the details in this guide matter.
The EU health certificate is the central document for France, and there are two versions. Both must be issued by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by USDA before your pet travels, per APHIS. Which one you need depends on how your pet travels, not on whether the move is personal.
Use the non-commercial certificate when:
The non-commercial certificate is valid for 30 days after your vet issues it. Its final page is a declaration that the owner or designated person must complete and sign, and that declaration travels with the pet. After arrival, the same certificate can cover travel within the EU for up to 6 months, as long as the rabies vaccine stays valid.
Use the commercial certificate when:
With the commercial certificate, a USDA-accredited vet must inspect your pet within 48 hours of departure from the U.S., and USDA must endorse it within 48 hours after the vet issues it. This is the version that applies when a pet flies as cargo and no owner or designated person travels with it inside the 5-day window.
Both certificate types were updated this year. APHIS states that new non-commercial forms took effect October 1, 2026, and the new commercial form takes effect October 17, 2026, following EU Regulations 2026/131 and 2026/848. Your vet should download the current version from APHIS rather than reuse an older file.
The 10-day rule is the deadline most likely to trip up a France move. For the non-commercial certificate, APHIS states that USDA endorsement must happen within 10 days of your pet's arrival in the EU. The clock runs backward from the day your pet lands, so an overnight flight that arrives the next morning counts from that arrival date.
Here is how the process works:
If a U.S. Army Veterinary Service veterinarian issues the certificate, USDA endorsement is not required, but the military vet must still issue the non-commercial certificate within 10 days of arrival.
When your pet lands, it must enter through a designated travellers' point of entry, where authorities run documentary and identity checks. In other words, someone will compare the microchip in your pet to the number on your papers, so every detail needs to match.
Use this list to check your folder before you leave for the airport. Every item applies to both dogs and cats unless noted.
Vaccines and paperwork cannot fix a breed problem. France classifies some dogs as potentially dangerous, and its official public service site, Service-Public.fr, splits them into two groups.
Category 1 (attack dogs) are dogs without a pedigree whose physical traits resemble the American Staffordshire Terrier (commonly called pit bulls), the Mastiff (commonly called "boerbulls"), or the Tosa. Importing or bringing a Category 1 dog into metropolitan France is an offense punishable by 6 months in prison and a EUR 15,000 fine, with possible confiscation of the dog.
Category 2 (guard and defense dogs) are pedigreed American Staffordshire Terriers, Rottweilers, and Tosas, plus Rottweiler-type dogs without a pedigree. These dogs are not banned from entry, but owners in France face obligations that include a detention permit, a behavioral assessment, liability insurance, and rules for public spaces.
The pedigree line is what separates the two groups, so documentation matters. The French government notes that only a veterinarian can determine a dog's breed type and recommends carrying a veterinary statement when there is doubt. If your dog is a mixed breed with a muscular, broad-headed build, settle this question before you spend money on vaccines and flights. Cats have no equivalent restriction.
The 10-day endorsement window comes up again and again among families who have made the move. In a thread on r/Expats_In_France about timing EU health certificates, one member summed up the rule that catches people: "The USDA must endorse the vet's certificate no more than 10 days prior to your arrival to the EU, rather than departure from USA" (r/Expats_In_France discussion).
As Adam Melton, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Starwood Pet Travel, puts it: "France looks simple on paper because there's no titer test and no quarantine, and that's exactly why people get caught. The two things we check first are the date the microchip went in versus the date of the rabies shot, and the arrival date we're counting the 10-day endorsement back from. Get those right and France is one of the smoother moves out of the U.S."
For the full month-by-month plan, including what to do in your first week after landing, see our complete timeline for moving a dog or cat from the US to France. You can also review our France pet transport services page to see how we coordinate the paperwork, endorsement, and flight.