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Pet travel route

Dog or cat from Croatia to Serbia: official requirements

Possible. With nothing done yet, start at least 3 weeks ahead. The main steps: microchip, before the rabies vaccination and rabies vaccination at 12 weeks or older, 21 days before entry.

Rules checked up to 12 October 2026From 6 official pages

Make my dated plan Reverse: Serbia → Croatia

In short

Limited official guidance. The authority for leaving Croatia publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. Croatia's government page says nothing about the certificate or official stamp a destination may ask for: it only says there are no EU or Croatian restrictions on pets leaving. Ask the destination what it needs, and the Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate how to get any official endorsement.

At a glance

The rules on this route are the same for dogs and cats.

How early to start

3 weeks

if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet

Set by: Rabies vaccination at 12 weeks or older, 21 days before entry (21 days after a first vaccination)

No official wait

if it is already microchipped and vaccinated

The least time the official waiting periods allow. Vet, lab and paperwork appointments come on top.

On this route

  • No rabies blood test
  • No import permit
  • No quarantine

Which rules apply to you

Serbia puts Croatia in the group “Annex 1 country (EU and pet-passport Europe)”. See every group

Official name: Annex 1: EU member states, Andorra, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino and the Vatican (pet passport, no titer)

Prefer a feed reader? Croatia rule changes · Serbia rule changes

Croatia → Serbia

What your pet needs

In the order you do them. Each step says whether Croatia (leaving) or Serbia (entering) asks for it.

  1. Get ready

    1. IdentificationEntering Serbia

      Microchip, before the rabies vaccination

      Your pet must be permanently identified with a microchip (or a clearly readable tattoo applied before 3 July 2011). The identification must come before any rabies vaccination (and any antibody test).

      Details and the official words

      “1) животиње треба да буду трајно обележене -микрочип;”

      “тетовираном пре 3. јула 2011. године, а то означавање мора претходити свакој вакцинацији”

    2. VaccinationEntering Serbia

      Rabies vaccination at 12 weeks or older, 21 days before entry

      Your pet must be vaccinated against rabies with an inactivated vaccine (at least one antigenic unit per dose, WHO standard) or a recombinant vaccine, given at 12 weeks of age or older. After a first vaccination, wait 21 days before entering Serbia. A booster given after the previous vaccination expired counts as a first vaccination.

      Details and the official words

      “2) да су кућни љубимци вакцинисани против беснила са најмање једном антигенском јединицом по дози (препорука Светске здравствене организације); или рекомбинована вакцина која изражава имунизујући гликопротеин вируса беснила у живом вирусном вектору и да је протекао 21 дан од дана вакцинације, у случају прве вакцинације против беснила;”

      “Период ваљаности вакцинације почиње успостављањем заштитног имунитета, које није краћи од 21 дан од примарне вакцинације”

      “were at least 12 weeks old at the time of vaccination against rabies”

      “Any revaccination must be considered a primary vaccination if it was not carried out within the period of validity of a previous vaccination.”

  2. In the days before you travel

    1. PaperworkEntering Serbia

      Pet passport (EU and listed European countries)

      From an EU country or Andorra, Switzerland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino or the Vatican, your pet travels with a correctly completed pet passport issued by an authorised vet of that country. No veterinary certificate is needed.

      Details and the official words

      “4) да кућне љубимце прати исправно попуњен пасош издат од овлашћеног ветеринара одређене земље.”

      “Кућне љубимце псе, мачке и крзнашице не треба да прати ветеринарски сертификат издат од стране надлежног ветеринарског органа.”

Good to know

  • Under EU and Croatian rules there are no restrictions on pets leaving: a pet travelling with its owner, or a person the owner authorises, can leave the EU customs territory for non-commercial travel to a non-EU country at any border crossing open for international passenger traffic.
  • If you leave through a crossing that is not on the list of entry points for non-commercial pet movements and the destination refuses your pet, the pet will not be able to re-enter the EU through the crossing it left by. Customs officers should warn you of this.
  • For a pet that comes from the EU, the rabies antibody (titer) test can be done at an approved laboratory in an EU member state before the pet leaves the Union for a non-EU country. Then you don't have to wait 4 months after the vaccination to re-enter, but the passport must confirm the successful test before the date of travel.
  • 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.

Money

What it costs

Government fees exactly as the official pages state them, and what vets and labs in Croatia publish for the steps above. The two are never added together.

Government fees on this route

No government fee is published on the official pages we use for this trip. That doesn’t always mean it’s free: ask the authority.

What vets and labs charge Not official figures

We have no published vet or lab prices for Croatia yet.

Prices that businesses publish on their own pages, quoted as we read them; yours can differ. Ranges are the lowest to highest of these examples, never our estimate. How we collect prices

Airline fees aren’t included: check your airline’s pet page.

Round trip

Coming back to Croatia

Nothing for the trip back has to happen before your pet leaves Croatia.

The trip back asks for 7 steps: microchip, rabies vaccination, EU animal health certificate and non-commercial declaration and more.

Every step from Serbia to Croatia

Nearby routes

Other routes

Where this comes from

Official sources

Last checked against the official pages: 2026-10-12.

Entering SerbiaLeaving CroatiaReport a mistakeGet rule-change alerts

Questions owners ask

Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Croatia to Serbia?

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 Serbia?

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 Serbia?

Not on the routes we have verified: the official rules list no quarantine for a pet that meets the requirements.

How early should I start preparing my pet for Croatia to Serbia?

With nothing done yet, start at least 3 weeks ahead. The main steps: microchip, before the rabies vaccination and rabies vaccination at 12 weeks or older, 21 days before entry.

Every rule here is quoted from the official page and checked word for word; not legal advice. How we verify · Report a mistake

Read next

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