Importing a pet into a foreign country involves many steps. Check out the US APHIS website for detailed information on requirements of various countries.
Here is what we went through importing Sunshine into the BVI, back into the USA (evacuation from hurricanes) and then Europe.
Importing a dog into the British Virgin Islands:
You need the following items in order to proceed with importing your dog into the BVI:
- three original rabies certificates with the vet's signature (NO COPIES and they prefer blue ink) of the past three years. The microchip number MUST be on each rabies certificate.
- rabies titer certificate with the sticker from the FAVN office in Kansas (this process takes over a month, so plan ahead)
- vet records (vaccinations, health history, etc) The BVI requires a Lyme disease vaccination, which is given in two parts, a month apart (we took care of this in CA).
- international microchip
- BVI import permit (2 pages)
The first step after you have made your travel plans is to ensure you have enough time to obtain a health certificate. The certificate must be within 10 days of travel and also allow time to get it endorsed by the USDA vet (usually located in the capital of the state you are in). You have the option of mailing it in, but we didn't want to take the risk of not receiving it in time.
We got Sunshine's health certificate after an exam and answering all the questions on the form.
We then had a bit of panic--Sunshine's FAVN titer test form had a typo. The last four digits did not match her scanned microchip. After a lot of phone calls and emails, we had two letters written to verify Sunshine was indeed the dog matching the records. We had a letter each written by our vet back in CA and the one who completed the certificate in SC (a huge thanks to Dr. Isabel and her staff at Myrtle Beach Animal Hospital--they were amazing and super helpful in our time of need). The vet in CA admitted the typo mistake and promised they would request and pay for an amended form from the FAVN office. (We finally received the amended form three months later--in November; again after calling every few days inquiring).
Upon receipt of the health certificate, we drove straight to the USDA vet's office (this appointment was made ahead of time). While en route, (it was a 4 hour drive) I emailed a combined PDF file of her completed health certificate, rabies certificates, FAVN titer test, verification letters, and vet records to the BVI department of agriculture, veterinarian's office. They replied quickly with an import permit and once I emailed them the endorsed copy from the USDA vet, we would receive the final signed permit with permission to import Sunshine.
We also had to have the BVI state they would not euthanize Sunshine upon arrival, as we were a bit worried about the FAVN form typo. The USDA vet would not endorse her until she saw that the letters addressing the typo would be accepted by the BVI. Finally, after a tense afternoon and $140, it all worked out and we were on our way to the airport.
Side note: Everything that can go wrong WILL: While driving south to Miami to catch our flight, we noticed Sunny was acting strange. She stopped eating and drinking. After arriving to Cape Canaveral we found an animal hospital and had x-rays done. We discovered she had something in her small intestines. Now, those of you who know Sunny's history, won't be surprised at this (a year ago, she had two bouncy balls removed from her intestines). She underwent surgery to remove a rock and we were faced with the possibility of having to leave her behind with a friend (we weren't sure she would be allowed into the BVI in this condition). After another tense 24 hours, phone calls and emails, we decided to take her with us, as our flight was three days later and she would be out of the critical stage.
The airport caused another two-day delay due to not allowing her to fly in temperatures over 84 degrees. Jared and the kids flew on, and I stayed behind with Sunny. It was a very stressful time, but we were on our way after booking a late night flight and a miracle (the temp was 85 degrees and the clerk almost declined us our flight again until I showed the the temp was dropping and would be below 84 degrees way before the flight actually took off).
Another part of the import process is to email your flight details to the department of agriculture, so they can have a vet meet you in customs. I had to change the date of arrival a couple of times. Fortunately, the BVI customs officers were great about allowing her a later entry than was on the permit. Arriving to the Tortola airport, the vet met me, looked Sunshine over, checked the paperwork, and we were finally on our way to the boat.
**In order to get Sunny imported back into the USA, she only needed a one page certificate from an island vet. That was it. We were able to show all her docs, and they did verify the rabies and titer test.**
Importing a dog into the European Union (Greece in our case):
You need the following items in order to proceed with importing your dog into the EU:
- three original rabies certificates with the vet's signature (NO COPIES) of the past three years. The microchip number MUST be on each rabies certificate.
- rabies titer certificate with the sticker from the FAVN office in Kansas (this process takes over a month, so plan ahead)
- vet records (vaccinations, health history, etc) She also got a tapeworm treatment, just in case we enter one of the countries that require it.
- international microchip (and the certificate of when it was implanted). This certificate was NOT required for the BVI, however, I happened to have it in Sunshine's records.
- import permit for the country you are visiting (in our case the health certificate form and the import permit were the same and were 8 pages).
A few days before we were due to fly out, I scheduled both the health certificate appointment and the USDA endorsement appointment. We needed the date within 10 days of travel and I wanted to buy as much time as possible in case of future delays. After an exam and review of the import permit/health certificate requirements, we had everything we needed and drove off to the USDA office for endorsement. We arrived a bit early and I handed over the forms to be reviewed by the USDA vet. They told me to take a seat as it would be a few minutes. The woman in line after me had issues with her paperwork--the FAVN form had a typo and did not match her dog's microchip number. I guess this is a pretty common issue. Word to the wise: DOUBLE CHECK all of your pet's paperwork to ensure all the numbers match!
15 minutes and $38 later, we were done and on our way. We had a 6 hour drive to the airport (only one with a non-stop flight to Greece). I scanned in copies of everything while en route (better to have digital copies just in case). We are currently in transit, so I will update on how this import process went after we get through it and are on the boat! =)
