CollarPassThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dog Import Form is a free online form required for dogs entering the United States, including dogs returning home. Complete a separate form for each dog and keep the receipt for the airline and border inspection. It is not an international health certificate or proof that every entry requirement has been met.
Your dog's travel history determines which questions appear. If your dog has spent the previous six months only in dog-rabies-free or low-risk countries, the receipt can cover multiple entries from the same departure country for six months from issue. The high-risk pathway produces a single-entry receipt; additional vaccination documents and arrival arrangements depend on where the dog was vaccinated.
Start with the official instructions, not a paid form-download website. CollarPass explains the process but does not submit the form for you or issue official documents.
Source: CDC form instructions — checked November 2, 2026.
Quick answer
- Submit one free online form per dog before travel.
- Consider every country visited in the preceding six months, not just the final departure airport.
- Verify your email address and save the actual receipt.
- Low-risk receipts and high-risk receipts have different reuse rules.
- A receipt does not replace a readable microchip, eligibility checks, or any separately required veterinary documents.
Sources: CDC instructions and low-risk entry requirements — checked November 2, 2026.
Who needs the form?
This guide applies to dogs entering the United States by air, land, or sea, whether they are personal pets or returning U.S. dogs. Cats do not use this dog-specific form. Service dogs still need the relevant entry documentation; describing a dog as a service animal does not remove the form requirement.
The dog must be at least six months old, appear healthy on arrival, and have a microchip readable by a universal scanner. These conditions still apply when the low-risk form does not ask you to upload a vaccine record or enter a microchip number. A shorter questionnaire is not an exemption from the underlying rules.
For a country-level overview, use United States pet travel requirements. State rules and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requirements may add obligations beyond CDC's requirements.
Sources: CDC low-risk rules, CDC instructions, and APHIS dog imports — checked November 2, 2026.
Before you open the form
Have the importing person's identification, date of birth, phone number, and accessible email address ready. Keep your dog's description and itinerary nearby. For the high-risk branch, also gather the microchip record, required rabies documents, U.S. destination address, and any required animal-care-facility reservation.
Use the high-risk-country list linked from CDC's instructions. A dog leaving Canada after recently visiting a high-risk country cannot use the low-risk pathway simply because the last flight or land crossing begins in Canada. Review the whole six-month history before answering the opening question.
Source: CDC instructions, opening question and Sections A–C — checked November 2, 2026.
Step 1: Identify the person importing the dog
Section A asks about the person bringing the dog into the country. This can be the owner, shipper, or another person transporting the dog. Enter the requested identification accurately, selecting the issuing country or jurisdiction that matches the document.
Double-check the email address: CDC sends the verification request and receipt there. In the low-risk branch, the form allows one additional owner or consignee when shared ownership means either person may travel with the dog. Follow the current fields rather than assuming that adding a name informally to a printout will work.
Source: CDC instructions, Section A — checked November 2, 2026.
Step 2: Describe the dog and choose its actual purpose
Enter the dog's name, age, sex, breed, color, and markings. Select the mixed-breed or other option if the breed is unknown or absent from the list. Choose the purpose that reflects the movement: a personal pet, adoption or resale, and a qualifying service dog are not interchangeable categories. CDC places emotional-support animals in the personal-pet category, not the service-animal category.
The high-risk branch asks for the microchip number and a photograph showing the dog's face and body. Accepted image types are JPG, JPEG, and PNG, with a maximum size of 10 MB. For a dog younger than one year, take the photograph within 15 days before arrival. Use the readable chip number documented in the accompanying veterinary paperwork when the dog has multiple chips.
Official sources differ; check both: the form instructions list JPG, JPEG, and PNG, while CDC's foreign-vaccinated high-risk page also mentions GIF. Use a type accepted by the live form rather than relying on GIF support.
Sources: CDC pages linked above — checked November 2, 2026.
Step 3: Enter the itinerary for the correct pathway
Dogs with only low-risk or rabies-free history
Enter the travel type, departure country, and first planned arrival date. CDC allows an earliest approximate arrival date if the exact date is not known. The receipt's six-month period runs from submission, not from the approximate date you enter. Submitting very early uses up part of that period before your trip begins.
Source: CDC instructions, low-risk Section C — checked November 2, 2026.
Dogs with high-risk history
Answer the vaccination-document questions from the documents you actually hold. A routine U.S. rabies vaccination record is not automatically the CDC Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination. That certification requires a USDA-accredited veterinarian and USDA endorsement before the dog leaves the United States.
Foreign-vaccinated dogs with high-risk history generally need the Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip, endorsed by the exporting country's official government veterinarian, plus a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility. Their arrival airport must match that facility. Follow CDC's separate instructions for narrow exceptions rather than trying to force a preferred airport into the form.
Enter the arrival date, relevant countries visited, port, and transport details carefully. If an arrival option is unavailable, investigate eligibility; do not change truthful answers to make the option appear.
Sources: CDC form instructions and foreign-vaccinated high-risk requirements — checked November 2, 2026.
Step 4: Sign, verify, and save the receipt
Read the attestations before typing your signature. Follow the separate instructions if you are authorized to complete the form on someone else's behalf. Submit only after checking the information against the itinerary and veterinary records.
CDC says the verification email should arrive within a few minutes and the receipt within 15 minutes after initial submission once you verify the address. These are published expectations, not a guaranteed processing service. Check spam and confirm that verification is complete before assuming the form failed. Save an offline copy and a printed backup; the receipt may be shown on a phone or on paper.
Source: CDC instructions, Section D — checked November 2, 2026.
When should you submit, and how long is it valid?
CDC recommends completing the form a few days before arrival; it can be completed on the travel day before entering the United States. For air travel, have the receipt before boarding. Do not leave this until check-in if you can avoid it.
| Pathway | Receipt use | When a fresh form is needed |
|---|---|---|
| Only rabies-free or low-risk countries in the previous six months | Multiple entries for one dog from the same departure country within six months of issue | Another dog, a visit to another foreign country, expiry, or information requiring correction |
| High-risk-country history | One entry for one dog, only on the arrival date listed | Another entry or changed travel details requiring a replacement receipt |
For a high-risk trip, obtain a new receipt if the arrival date or port changes. Recheck facility reservations and veterinary-document validity separately. A replacement online receipt cannot extend an expired certificate.
Sources: CDC form instructions, low-risk receipt rules, and high-risk receipt rules — checked November 2, 2026.
How the form relates to other paperwork
The form records import information; the microchip identifies the dog; vaccination records document immunization; and a health certificate records the veterinary attestations required for a particular route. None is a universal substitute for the others.
CDC does not require a rabies vaccination certificate for the low-risk pathway, but destination-state rules may still require vaccination. APHIS can require additional disease-related measures for dogs from certain places. Airlines may ask for their own health documentation. For high-risk foreign-vaccinated dogs, a valid titer can affect quarantine arrangements, but it does not replace the facility reservation or foreign-vaccination certification.
Use the international health certificate guide and rabies titer guide to separate these tasks before booking veterinary appointments.
Sources: CDC low-risk requirements, high-risk requirements, and APHIS — checked November 2, 2026.
Common errors to catch before departure
Review the six-month travel history, the importing person's identity, the email address, and—where requested—the chip number, photo age, arrival date, and port. Do not buy a supposed PDF permit instead of submitting the official online form. Do not reuse a high-risk receipt or assume a six-month low-risk receipt permits departure from any country.
Finally, distinguish a submitted form from a received receipt. Put the receipt beside the documents the airline and border authority will inspect. The international pet travel checklist helps place this last administrative step in the wider schedule.
Source: CDC instructions — checked November 2, 2026.
