Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from South Korea → 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
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
APQA quarantine certificate: The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency issues the quarantine certificate within the 10 days before departure (some destinations want it closer, for example within 7 days or 48 hours). Offices are open on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00 (lunch 12:00 to 13:00); the offices at Incheon Airport Terminals 1 and 2 also open on weekends and public holidays. You can get it at the airport on the day of departure: arrive at least two hours before check-in, with every document ready, and call ahead because same-day issue isn't guaranteed.
The certificate has a validity period set by the destination, typically counted from issue (for example 10 or 30 days). A certificate can be corrected and reissued at the issuing office or another one.
“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;”
“A quarantine certificate issued by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency can be obtained within 10 days before departure.”
“Quarantine certificates are issued on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00, except for weekends and public holidays.”
“visit the airport quarantine office at least two hours before check-in.”
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”
Vet exam
Vaccination and health certificate from a Korean animal clinic
Get the vaccination certificate and the health certificate from the clinic that vaccinated and treated your pet. Even if a rabies vaccination given abroad is accepted, you must also get a vaccination and health certificate from a domestic clinic within 10 days before departure.
Details and the official words
“you must get a vaccination and health certificate from a domestic animal clinic within 10 days before departure and submit it along with the foreign certificate.”
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.
- APQA says the deadlines for the quarantine certificate, and its validity, depend on the destination country's own rules, so check the importing country's requirements first.
- APQA calls travelling or moving abroad with a pet 'non-commercial'. Sales, exhibitions, competitions and adoption are 'commercial' and usually face stricter rules, which we don't cover.
- If your pet fails the destination's quarantine check it may be denied entry, quarantined or sent back.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from South Korea 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.