Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Slovakia → 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 leaving Slovakia publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. ŠVPS gives no fixed deadline or fee for the certificate: the destination's own requirements decide, and the official vet at your regional veterinary and food administration confirms the document.
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
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.
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
Official vet at your regional veterinary and food administration confirms the destination's document: If the destination requires its veterinary document to be confirmed by an official vet of the country of origin, contact the regional veterinary and food administration (RVPS) responsible for where the animal is kept. Once the document's conditions are met, bring it correctly filled in to the official vet, with the veterinary records that support it (most often the EU pet passport with the owner, identification, vaccination and other treatments, clinical examination and laboratory results). If the destination wants confirmation by the chief veterinarian, contact the central authority of the State Veterinary and Food Administration.
The official vet may ask for an official Slovak translation of any related document in a foreign language.
ŠVPS's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's own requirements decide.
“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;”
“V prípade, že tretia krajina vyžaduje potvrdenie stanoveného veterinárneho dokumentu úradným veterinárnym lekárom krajiny pôvodu, je potrebné komunikovať požiadavku s miestne príslušnou Regionálnou veterinárnou a potravinovou správou v mieste chovu zvieraťa.”
“V prípade, že tretia krajina vyžaduje potvrdenie stanoveného veterinárneho dokumentu hlavným veterinárnym lekárom krajiny pôvodu, je potrebné komunikovať požiadavku s centrálnou autoritou Štátnej veterinárnej a potravinovej správy Slovenskej republiky.”
“po splnení jeho podmienok potrebné úradnému veterinárnemu lekárovi predložiť správne vyplnený stanovený dokument spolu s veterinárnymi záznamami potvrdzujúcimi údaje uvedené v dokumente”
“Ak sú akékoľvek súvisiace dokumenty v cudzom jazyku, úradný veterinárny lekár je oprávnený požadovať doloženie úradného prekladu do slovenského jazyka.”
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.
- Get the destination's entry conditions only from trustworthy sources: its competent authority (by e-mail, phone or official website) or its embassy in the EU. If you pass through several non-EU countries, check each one's conditions, because they can differ.
- If you plan to come back, learn the conditions for bringing your pet back into the EU from non-EU countries 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 Slovakia 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.