Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Melilla (Spain) → the United States
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 Melilla (Spain) publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. MAPA's page gives no deadline, fee or office for the export certificate: your vet applies for it through the CEXGAN system, and the destination's own rules decide the rest.
How early to start
8 weeks
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
4 weeks
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
Melilla (Spain) is in the group “High-risk for dog rabies” in the United States’s published list.See every group
Headlines for the United States
- Rabies blood test for some origins
- Designated entry point for some trips
What your dog needs
Dogs
Paperwork
CDC Dog Import Form
Fill in the free CDC Dog Import Form online (one per dog) and keep the emailed receipt to show on arrival. You can submit it up to the day of travel; the receipt is valid for 6 months unless your dog visits another country in that time.
Details and the official words
The receipt stops being valid if your dog visits a high-risk country, or a different low-risk country, during those 6 months — then you need a new form.
If your travel date or port of entry changes, submit a new form.
“the receipt is valid for 6 months from when it's issued unless the dog visits a high-risk country or a different dog rabies-free or low-risk country during that time”
Age rule
Dog at least 6 months old
Dogs must be at least 6 months old when they enter or return to the U.S.
Details and the official words
“Dogs must be at least 6 months old at time of entry or return to the U.S.”
Identification
Microchip
Your dog must have a microchip that a universal scanner can detect. If it has been in a high-risk country, the chip must have been implanted before the rabies vaccine.
Details and the official words
“Dogs must have a microchip that can be detected with a universal scanner to identify them.”
“The microchip must be implanted before getting the rabies vaccine, or else the vaccine will be invalid.”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination
Because your dog has been in a high-risk country for dog rabies in the last 6 months, it must be vaccinated against rabies — at 12 weeks (84 days) or older, at least 28 days before entry for a first vaccination — and the vaccine must not expire during travel.
Details and the official words
If this is missed: Unvaccinated dogs that have been in a high-risk country are not allowed to enter the U.S.
“will NOT be allowed to enter the U.S.”
“at least 28 days before entry”
Paperwork
Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip
A vet completes this CDC form and an official government veterinarian endorses it, no more than 30 days before your dog travels to the U.S. It is valid for one entry.
Details and the official words
“This form must be completed no more than 30 days before the dog travels to the U.S.”
Blood test
Rabies blood test (titer) at a CDC-approved lab
A blood sample taken at least 30 days after the first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before entry, tested by a CDC-approved laboratory. Without a valid titer your dog must be quarantined for 28 days at the CDC-registered facility.
Details and the official words
If this is missed: 28-day quarantine at the CDC-registered animal care facility, at your cost.
“at least 30 days after the dog's first valid rabies vaccination”
Route
Reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility
Book the CDC-registered animal care facility before travel and fly into the airport where it is located. The facility examines and revaccinates your dog on arrival.
Details and the official words
“must have a reservation at a CDC-registered animal care facility before entering the U.S.”
Official stamp
Export certificate requested by your vet through CEXGAN
To get your pet's export certificate, your vet has to request it through MAPA's CEXGAN application. The EU pet passport alone is not enough to leave the EU.
Details and the official words
MAPA's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's own requirements decide.
“Para obtener el certificado de exportación de su mascota, su veterinario deberá solicitarlo a través de la aplicación CEXGAN”
Good to know
- Your destination state may have its own rules (for example a rabies vaccination or health certificate). Check with the state veterinarian before you travel.
- If your dog comes from a region affected by screwworm, USDA requires a certificate from a full-time salaried government vet confirming a screwworm inspection within 5 days before shipment. Check USDA's list of affected regions.
- To travel to a non-EU country your pet must meet that country's requirements. Ask its embassy or consulate, and check the companion-animal export section of the CEXGAN system, which publishes information notes by country.
- To come back from a non-EU country that needs the rabies antibody test, the 90-day wait after the blood sample does not apply if the test was done with a favourable result before your pet left the EU and is recorded in its passport.
- 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.
What your cat needs
Cats
On arrival
Cat appears healthy on arrival
Cats must appear healthy on arrival and may be inspected. No federal proof of rabies vaccination is required, but CDC recommends it and your destination state may require it.
Details and the official words
“Cats are not required to have proof of rabies vaccination for importation into the United States.”
“APHIS Veterinary Services does not have any animal health requirements related to bringing (importing) a pet cat”
Official stamp
Export certificate requested by your vet through CEXGAN
To get your pet's export certificate, your vet has to request it through MAPA's CEXGAN application. The EU pet passport alone is not enough to leave the EU.
Details and the official words
MAPA's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's own requirements decide.
“Para obtener el certificado de exportación de su mascota, su veterinario deberá solicitarlo a través de la aplicación CEXGAN”
Good to know
- Your destination state may have its own rules (for example a rabies vaccination or health certificate). Check with the state veterinarian before you travel.
- To travel to a non-EU country your pet must meet that country's requirements. Ask its embassy or consulate, and check the companion-animal export section of the CEXGAN system, which publishes information notes by country.
- To come back from a non-EU country that needs the rabies antibody test, the 90-day wait after the blood sample does not apply if the test was done with a favourable result before your pet left the EU and is recorded in its passport.
- 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 need a rabies blood test to go from Melilla (Spain) to the United States?
Yes: A blood sample taken at least 30 days after the first valid rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before entry, tested by a CDC-approved laboratory.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog into the United States?
No. The official rules we have verified for this route don't ask for an import permit.
Will my dog be quarantined in the United States?
Not on the routes we have verified: the official rules list no quarantine for a pet that meets the requirements.
Does my dog need a microchip?
Yes: Your dog must have a microchip that a universal scanner can detect.