Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Mexico → Türkiye
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 An official source they rely on has changed since we last verified them, so something here may be out of date.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.
- Türkiye'ye kedi-köpek girişi için gerekli şartlar (Trabzon Port Veterinary Border Control Point, 16 May 2025) · page changed, noticed 12 Oct 2026
Limited official guidance. The authority for entering Türkiye publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. The conditions come from the ministry's border veterinary offices (Istanbul Airport, Trabzon Port) and its certificate form; the regulation they refer to is not quoted here. An older notice named banned dog breeds, but the current pages we read don't, so ask the border office at your entry point. The Istanbul page says the certificate is issued within 2 days before travel while the certificate itself says the clinical examination is within 24 hours: plan for the stricter.
How early to start
about 4 months
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
about 3 months
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.
Headlines for Türkiye
- Rabies blood test required
What your dog or cat needs
Identification
Microchip
Your pet must be microchipped (ISO 11784 / ISO 11785), and the rabies vaccination must be given after the microchip. Bring a reader if your chip isn't ISO standard.
Details and the official words
“The pet must be microchipped.”
“Rabies vaccination must be administered subsequent to the microchip implantation.”
“When electronic identification is used, the type of microchip must comply with ISO Standard 11784 or ISO Standard 11785.”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination (inactivated vaccine)
Vaccinate your pet against rabies after its microchip was implanted, with an inactivated vaccine produced to the WOAH (OIE) rules. A booster given after the previous vaccination has expired counts as a first vaccination.
Details and the official words
“The rabies vaccine used must be an inactivated vaccine produced in accordance with OIE”
“Rabies vaccination must be administered subsequent to the microchip implantation.”
Blood test
Rabies antibody test (0.5 IU or more) and a 3-month wait
At least 30 days after the rabies vaccination, a vet takes a blood sample for a rabies antibody titration test at an EU-approved laboratory, with a result above 0.5 IU/ml. After the first test you must wait 90 days (the Trabzon office counts 3 months from the blood sample) before entering Türkiye. The wait applies only to the first test: if the vaccination is renewed within its validity, later trips don't need it.
Details and the official words
Older notices gave a different interval between the vaccination and the test (21 days); the current Istanbul page says 30 days.
“At least 30 days following the rabies vaccination, a rabies antibody titration test must be conducted at an accredited laboratory listed below, and the test result must demonstrate a titre value exceeding 0.5 IU.”
“In the case of the initial titration test, a waiting period of 90 days from the date of the test result must be observed prior to travel.”
“Dikkat: kuduz titrasyon testi için kan serumu alınma tarihinden itibaren en erken 3 ay sonra ülkeye giriş yapılabilir.”
Vet exam
Clinical examination within 24 hours before travel
The certificate's clinical examination (your pet is free of clinical signs and fit to travel) must be done within 24 hours before movement.
Details and the official words
“The clinical examination(Part IX) must be done within 24 hours before movement.”
Paperwork
Veterinary health certificate from the exporting country's authority
The competent authority of the exporting country issues the ministry's Veterinary Health and Origin Certificate within 2 days before travel (it records the microchip, the rabies vaccination and the antibody test, and is signed and stamped by the official vet).
Details and the official words
SENASICA export certificate (CZE), first stamp: When the destination's and Mexico's requirements are met, SENASICA prepares the CZE and gives it a first stamp and signature: you don't need to bring your pet for this. It is free, and valid for 8 calendar days (the destination can set a different validity).
“Within 2 days prior to travel, a Veterinary Health Certificate , as stipulated in the annex of the relevant regulation below, must be issued by the competent authority of the exporting country.”
“I have seen an official record of the result of a serological test for the animal”
“Es gratuito y tiene una vigencia de 8 días naturales (puede variar en caso de que el país destino establezca una vigencia diferente)”
“se elaborará el CZE y se otorgará un primer sello y firma, no es necesario presentar a tu mascota”
Vet exam
Health certificate from a private vet
A private vet examines your pet and issues a good-health certificate with its name, microchip number (if it applies), breed, coat colour, sex and age, your name and address in Mexico, and a statement that it has no fresh wounds or signs of infectious disease. It must be no more than five days old (or the validity the destination sets) when you apply.
Details and the official words
“de no más de cinco días de expedido o de acuerdo a la vigencia establecida por el país de destino”
Official stamp
Apply for the CZE at a SENASICA office
Apply for the Certificado Zoosanitario para Exportación (CZE) at any authorised SENASICA office with the application form, the owner's official ID (plus a signed power of attorney with two witnesses if someone else applies), the health certificate, the vaccination record, a deworming record, a microchip document and lab results, when the destination asks for them. It is delivered within three working days after the working day you submit it.
Details and the official words
“Se te entregará en un plazo de tres días hábiles posteriores al día hábil de la fecha de entrega de tu solicitud”
Vet exam
Physical exam and second stamp on the day of travel
On the day you travel, bring your pet to SENASICA's office at the point of departure. Officials examine it and, if all is in order, give the CZE its second stamp and signature.
Details and the official words
“El día de tu viaje deberás llevar a tu mascota a la oficina de Senasica en el punto de salida, en donde el personal oficial realizará un examen físico, y si todo está en orden, otorgará el segundo sello y firma a su CZE.”
Good to know
- A passenger may bring a maximum of 2 animals (for example 2 cats, or 1 cat and 1 dog). The documents must be made out separately for each animal.
- At entry you need the animal's passport (identification document), the original rabies antibody test result and the veterinary health certificate.
- If you only pass through Türkiye to another country and your pet does not enter, you only have to meet the destination country's health conditions.
- Unvaccinated cats, dogs and ferrets under 3 months old may be allowed in only if they meet the health conditions the ministry sets for the rabies status of the country they come from: ask the border office.
- SENASICA tells you to look up the destination in its requirements module first: it shows the vaccinations or treatments your pet needs, and when they must be given. If a country isn't in the module, ask SENASICA at reqzoosan.dgsa@senasica.gob.mx.
- If the documents are incomplete or wrong, SENASICA can ask you to complete or correct them, or refuse the request, so leave time.
- The vaccination record must show the vaccine name, laboratory, batch number, expiry date, date given and validity period. Without a stated validity it counts as one year. The rabies vaccine counts from three months of age.
Government fees we know of
- SENASICA export zoosanitary certificate (CZE): free of charge0 MXN
Vet, lab and courier costs are not included. The final amount can depend on how many tests or pets are on the certificate.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Mexico to Türkiye?
Yes: At least 30 days after the rabies vaccination, a vet takes a blood sample for a rabies antibody titration test at an EU-approved laboratory, with a result above 0.5 IU/ml.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into Türkiye?
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 Türkiye?
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 microchipped (ISO 11784 / ISO 11785), and the rabies vaccination must be given after the microchip.