Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Belgium → Chile
What the official rules ask for on this route, for a family pet travelling with its owner. Enter your travel date and your pet’s details to turn it into a dated checklist.
Limited official guidance. The authority for leaving Belgium publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. AFSCA's page gives no deadline, fee or booking route for the certificate. Ask your local control unit (ULC) early.
How early to start
3 weeks
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
5 days
if it is already microchipped and vaccinated
Counted only from the officially fixed waiting periods. Vet, lab and paperwork appointment times are on top, so start earlier.
What your dog or cat needs
Vet exam
Clinical examination by a vet
A vet examines your pet within the 10 days before the CVI is issued and finds no clinical signs of infectious or parasitic disease.
Details and the official words
“dentro de los 10 días previos a la fecha de emisión del CVI”
Identification
Permanent individual identification (microchip or tattoo)
Your pet must be identified individually and permanently by a microchip or a tattoo, following ISO 11784/11785. The number on the CVI must match the animal's.
Details and the official words
We can only mark a microchip as done from your pet's records; a tattoo that meets the standard is also accepted.
“Deben estar identificados de forma individual y permanente, mediante tatuaje o microchip (conforme a las normas ISO 11784/11785).”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination
A pet that is vaccinated for the first time (or whose last dose was given after the previous vaccine expired), at any age, must be immunised at least 21 days before entering Chile. For a pet that is not a first-time vaccinate, the last two doses must be certified, otherwise it counts as a first-time vaccinate.
Details and the official words
The 21-day wait only applies to a first or lapsed vaccination; the plan shows it for every vaccine date, so a pet with an in-date booster can ignore it.
“deben ser inmunizados al menos 21 días previos al ingreso a Chile”
“En animales no primo-vacunados, se debe certificar la información de las 2 últimas dosis aplicadas, de lo contrario se considerarán como primo-vacunados.”
Treatment
Internal and external parasite treatment
A broad-spectrum treatment against internal and external parasites, with a product approved by your country's health authority, given between 5 and 30 days before the CVI is issued.
Details and the official words
“Los animales deben ser tratados entre 5 y 30 días previos a la emisión del CVI con un antiparasitario de uso interno y externo”
Paperwork
International Veterinary Certificate (CVI)
A CVI issued by the health authority of the country your pet is coming from, meeting all of Chile's requirements. It is valid for 10 days, extendable by up to 5 more depending on the travel conditions. Your pet's identification number on it must match the animal.
Details and the official words
SAG allows an extension of up to 5 days 'according to the conditions of the trip'; the page doesn't say who decides. We plan for 10 days.
Health certificate checked and certified by AFSCA (local control unit): In most cases the destination requires a health certificate for your pet. AFSCA's website lists the procedure and the types of certificate. Your local control unit (ULC) has to be able to check that the certification is possible.
AFSCA's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's rules decide.
“deben venir amparados por un Certificado Veterinario Internacional (CVI)”
“El CVI tiene una vigencia de 10 días, con un máximo prorrogable de 5 días de acuerdo a las condiciones del viaje.”
“Dans la majorité des cas, un certificat sanitaire est exigé par le pays de destination pour que votre animal puisse vous accompagner dans ce pays.”
“L’Unité locale de Contrôle (ULC) doit pouvoir contrôler que la certification sera possible.”
On arrival
SAG check on arrival
On arrival SAG checks that your health certificate (or EU passport) meets the requirements.
Details and the official words
“Al llegar a Chile, el SAG verificará que la certificación sanitaria”
Paperwork
Bring proof of the destination's conditions to your local control unit
If the destination has its own conditions, or conditions AFSCA hasn't published, bring official proof that the destination's authority asked for them (with a sworn translation if needed) to your local AFSCA control unit (ULC) beforehand, not on the day of certification, so it can check that certification will be possible. Start preparing early.
Details and the official words
“vous devez présenter une preuve officielle attestant que ces conditions ont bien été exigées par l’autorité du pays de destination”
“Les conditions imposées par le pays de destination doivent être présentées au préalable”
Good to know
- Dogs and cats coming from European Union member states may use their EU pet passport instead of a CVI.
- On arrival SAG may apply other laws and regulations on preventing and controlling animal disease, so the paperwork below is the minimum.
- These rules come from SAG Resolution 3.343 of 2026 (modified by Resolution 5.444/2026). Older SAG material and third-party guides may still show the earlier requirements, so rely on the page linked here.
- To travel outside the EU, the destination country's conditions apply. For some countries AFSCA publishes them; for others you must ask the embassy or the regional export-promotion organisations. It is your responsibility that the destination accepts your pet.
- AFSCA recommends a European passport, a microchip and a valid rabies vaccination. For a limited number of countries the rabies vaccination is not required, but AFSCA still advises it because it is needed to come back to the EU. Many non-EU countries count a vaccine as valid for one year, so check its date before you leave.
- Even after a short stay in a non-EU country, your pet has to meet the rules for entering Belgium from outside the EU when it comes back. Where a blood test is needed, the conditions are relaxed if you do it before you leave.
- Planning to bring your pet back to the EU? After a short stay in a non-EU country you can skip the 3-month wait after the rabies blood test, but only if, before you leave the EU, your pet was vaccinated against rabies, passed a successful titer test, and your vet recorded both in its EU pet passport. So do the blood test before you go.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Belgium to Chile?
No. The official rules we have verified for this route don't ask for a rabies blood test.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into Chile?
No. The official rules we have verified for this route don't ask for an import permit.
Will my dog or cat be quarantined in Chile?
Not on the routes we have verified: the official rules list no quarantine for a pet that meets the requirements.
Does my dog or cat need a microchip?
Yes: Your pet must be identified individually and permanently by a microchip or a tattoo, following ISO 11784/11785.