Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Northern Ireland (UK) → Vietnam
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 entering Vietnam publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. Viet Nam's 2026 circular on animal quarantine sets out what happens at the border for a pet carried by a traveller, but it doesn't list what the exporting country's quarantine certificate must state (for example a rabies vaccination or its timing), and we found no official English page for pet owners. Ask the animal quarantine office at your arrival airport and your airline what the certificate must show before you travel.
How early to start
2 days
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
2 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
Paperwork
Quarantine (health) certificate from the exporting country
Your pet travels with the quarantine certificate issued by the exporting country's authority. The border quarantine office in Viet Nam checks it. The circular doesn't say how recent it must be or what it must state: ask the quarantine office at your arrival airport.
Details and the official words
Export health certificate through DAERA's DECS: For a non-EU destination you usually need an export health certificate (EHC). You apply yourself in the DAERA Export Certification System (DECS), filling in the certificate for your destination and choosing an authorised private vet practice (aPVP), which issues the final certificate. Apply no earlier than 10 days before export; DAERA advises applying at the latest 2 days before.
“Cơ quan kiểm dịch động vật cửa khẩu thực hiện: Kiểm tra Giấy chứng nhận kiểm dịch của nước xuất khẩu; kiểm tra lâm sàng động vật;”
“An Export Health Certificate (EHC) is usually required if the final destination of the animals is a non-EU country, whether the export is commercial or non-commercial.”
“EHC applications for the export of pets to Third Country destinations are made by the pet owner using the DAERA Export Certification system (DECS).”
“NOTE: The earliest you can apply is 10 days before the planned date of export. However, we also advise applying at latest 2 days before planned date of export.”
On arrival
Declare your pet at the border animal quarantine office
For up to 2 animals you bring as pets or on a trip (not on the banned list), declare them for import quarantine directly at the animal quarantine office at the border. It checks the certificate and examines your pet, and issues Viet Nam's import quarantine certificate within 1 working day if everything is in order.
Details and the official words
“Kiểm dịch đối với trường hợp mang theo người không quá 02 con động vật với mục đích để nuôi làm cảnh, sinh hoạt trong gia đình hoặc mang theo đi du lịch, công tác, quá cảnh và không thuộc Danh mục động vật cấm xuất khẩu, nhập khẩu theo quy định”
“Chủ hàng khai báo kiểm dịch nhập khẩu trực tiếp tại Cơ quan kiểm dịch động vật cửa khẩu;”
“Trong thời hạn 01 ngày làm việc kể từ ngày thực hiện kiểm dịch, Cơ quan kiểm dịch động vật cửa khẩu cấp Giấy chứng nhận kiểm dịch động vật nhập khẩu”
Good to know
- The circular doesn't list the vaccinations a pet must have. At the border, the quarantine office vaccinates an animal that hasn't been vaccinated against dangerous infectious diseases, and takes samples from an animal suspected of an infectious disease (the certificate then comes within 1 working day of the test result).
- An animal with a dangerous infectious disease is destroyed near the border crossing, and an animal whose foreign quarantine certificate isn't valid is held.
- Check that an export health certificate exists for your destination on DEFRA's 'Find an export health certificate'; if there is none, email DAERA (Daeratradeexports@daera-ni.gov.uk). Its notes for guidance say whether you also need an import permit or approval from the destination, which you get before applying.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Northern Ireland (UK) to Vietnam?
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 Vietnam?
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 Vietnam?
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?
The official rules we have verified for this route don't list a microchip requirement.