Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Belgium → South Korea
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.
We’re re-checking these rules. An official source they rely on has changed since we last verified them, so something here may be out of date. Before you book or travel, confirm the details with the official authority.
- Overseas rabies-free countries (regions): list as of 4 April 2023 (HWPX attachment, in Korean) · page changed, noticed 12 Oct 2026
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
No fixed wait
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
No fixed wait
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.
Which rules apply to you
Belgium is in the group “On APQA's rabies-free list — no rabies antibody test” in South Korea’s published list.See every group
Headlines for South Korea
- Rabies blood test for some origins
What your dog or cat needs
Identification
ISO microchip
Every dog and cat must have a microchip. It should be ISO-compliant (ISO 11784 and 11785); with any other chip you must bring your own scanner. Its number must match the one on the health certificate.
Details and the official words
If this is missed: An animal without a microchip, or whose chip number doesn't match the certificate, may be quarantined longer so one can be implanted at the owner's expense.
“Microchips implanted in cats and dogs must be ISO-compliant (ISO11784 and 11785 standards). For any other chips, importers must bring their own microchip scanners.”
“it is mandatory that they have microchips implanted in them.”
Paperwork
Health certificate from the exporting country's government
A health certificate issued by the government agency of the country your pet is leaving. It must show the microchip number and birth date, and for pets aged 90 days or older not from a rabies-free country, also the rabies antibody test result. You hand it to the animal quarantine officer on arrival.
Details and the official words
APQA's pet page doesn't say how many days before arrival the certificate must be issued. Ask the exporting country's authority and APQA.
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.
“a health certificate issued by the government agency of the exporting country confirming the animal's microchip number and the result of the rabies antibody test must be submitted to the animal quarantine officer.”
“a health certificate issued by the government agency of the exporting country which states the animal's microchip number and birth date.”
“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
Quarantine inspection at the port of entry
On arrival the quarantine officer checks your documents and your pet's health with a clinical exam. If all is in order your pet may be released the same day.
Details and the official words
If this is missed: Animals with missing or mismatched microchip, missing antibody test or low titer may be quarantined for an extended period at the owner's expense.
“may be released on the day of arrival.”
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
- Whether your pet needs a rabies antibody test depends on APQA's list of rabies-free countries. The only version we could read is dated 4 April 2023, and APQA changes the list as countries report rabies or declare themselves free. Ask APQA (or check its current list) before you rely on the 'no blood test' route.
- If you arrive without the government health certificate, your pet has to go back to the country it came from, at your cost.
- APQA's pet page does not set a rabies vaccination schedule or a waiting period; it asks for the antibody test (pets aged 90 days or older, not from a rabies-free country). Your vet will need to vaccinate before that test.
- 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 South Korea?
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 South Korea?
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 South Korea?
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: Every dog and cat must have a microchip.