Pet relocation from the USA to Asia

Who moves pets this way

Most of the families we plan for fall into four groups:

• Americans taking a job in Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong or Shanghai, usually on a start date that was fixed before anyone checked the pet rules.
• Military families on PCS orders to Japan or South Korea, where the Patriot Express and the base veterinary clinic change the plan. See military PCS pet relocation.
• Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Filipino families going home after years in the United States, often with a dog or cat adopted here.
• Retirees and remote workers settling in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam or the Philippines.

The direction matters. A dog leaving the United States is governed by the destination's import rules and by USDA's export process. A dog coming the other way is governed by the CDC: that is a different page, pet relocation from Asia to the USA.

What we coordinate on an outbound move

• A dated plan built backward from your travel date, with the earliest date the destination can accept your pet.
• The order of microchip, rabies vaccinations, titer blood draw and health exam, worked out with your own veterinarian.
• The destination's permit or advance notice, filed in its window: Taiwan's import permit, Singapore's import license, Hong Kong's special permit, Japan's 40-day notification, Thailand's permit from the arrival airport's quarantine station.
• The health certificate on the destination's form, reviewed before your USDA-accredited veterinarian submits it for APHIS endorsement.
• The flight: carrier, aircraft, travel mode and crate for your pet's size, breed and season.
• Arrival: what happens at the destination airport, and help there through local partners where available.

Your veterinarian examines and vaccinates; the destination's authority decides on entry; the airline decides on carriage. We keep the sequence and the dates straight between them.

Three kinds of destination

Titer test, then a waiting period

• Japan treats the U.S. mainland as a non-designated region: ISO microchip, two rabies shots after the chip, a titer of at least 0.5 IU/ml at a Japan-designated lab (Kansas State for civilian pets), then at least 180 days between the blood draw and arrival, plus a 40-day advance notice. Plan about seven months. USA to Japan.
• Taiwan counts the U.S. mainland as a rabies area: APHIA import permit, titer drawn 90 days to a year before arrival, and 7 days of quarantine, or none when the 180-day waiver conditions are met. USA to Taiwan.
• Singapore lists the U.S. in Schedule II: a titer drawn 90 days to 12 months before export, two AVS licenses, and no quarantine when your pet lands within 5 days of you and has lived with you for more than 6 months. About four months. USA to Singapore.

Titer test, no waiting period

• South Korea needs a passing titer for pets 90 days or older, within 24 months of the draw, and releases compliant pets the same day. USA to South Korea.
• Mainland China admits one dog or cat per traveler with an ISO chip, two lifetime rabies shots and a titer from an approved lab; without the titer, 30 days of quarantine through a designated port. USA to Mainland China.

No titer test from the United States

• Hong Kong puts the continental U.S. in Group II: AFCD special permit, rabies shot 30 days to a year before export, manifested cargo only, and no dog or cat under 5 months. USA to Hong Kong.
• Thailand issues an import permit from the quarantine station at your arrival airport, asks for vaccines 21 days ahead and an original ink-endorsed USDA certificate used within 10 days. Its quarantine rule is stated differently by two official sources, and the route guide says so. USA to Thailand.
• Vietnam lets you declare up to two pets at the border quarantine office with a USDA-endorsed certificate valid 30 days. USA to Vietnam.
• Malaysia needs a MAQIS permit filed by a registered agent and at least 7 days of quarantine on the peninsula (14 in Sabah, which also asks for a titer). USA to Malaysia.
• The Philippines needs a BAI import clearance for every pet. No titer until December 31, 2026; from January 1, 2027, a titer of at least 0.5 IU/ml. USA to the Philippines.

Hawaii and Guam are treated as rabies-free by Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, so a pet that has lived there follows a shorter path. The route guides cover it.

Route guides, country by country

Each guide lists the requirements, the timeline, the costs we can quote with a source, and the mistakes we see on that route.

• USA→ to Taiwan 6–7 months (no quarantine)
• USA→ to Japan About 7 months from the mainland
• USA→ to South Korea Often several weeks
• USA→ to Singapore About 4 months
• USA→ to Hong Kong 3–6 weeks
• USA→ to Mainland China Weeks once the titer passes
• USA→ to Thailand Often 4–6 weeks
• USA→ to Vietnam About 1–2 months
• USA→ to Philippines Clearance: up to 11 working days
• USA→ to Malaysia 6–8 weeks

When to start

Count backward from the date your pet should land, then add margin for a lab result or a permit that takes longer than planned:

• Japan: about seven months from the first shot for a pet with no compliant history.
• Taiwan: six to seven months to arrive without quarantine; three to four months if 7 days of quarantine is acceptable.
• Singapore: about four months.
• South Korea and Mainland China: several weeks once the titer passes; the lab turnaround is the long pole.
• Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines: four to eight weeks for an adult pet with current vaccines.

A puppy or kitten adds time everywhere: the first rabies shot cannot be given before 12 or 13 weeks, and Japan's clock only starts after a second shot. How early to start a pet relocation walks through the arithmetic.

The U.S. side, which every destination shares

USDA APHIS asks you to work with a USDA-accredited veterinarian from the day you decide to travel. That veterinarian confirms the destination's requirements, completes its health certificate and submits it for endorsement, either electronically through VEHCS or by mail. APHIS charges $101 per certificate with no laboratory tests listed and $160 with one or two tests; your veterinarian's fees are separate.

Timing is the usual trap. Most destinations accept a certificate only for a short window after it is signed (10 days for Thailand, 14 for Hong Kong and China, 30 for Taiwan and Korea), and the endorsement has to fit inside it. Our US pet export service is built around that window.

Because endorsement is online for most destinations, your departure city changes the flight options more than the paperwork. US airports for pet departures and arrivals compares the gateways.

Flights across the Pacific

Cabin travel on a transpacific flight is the exception: it depends on the airline, the aircraft, the pet's size with its carrier, and the destination. Hong Kong does not allow it at all. Most dogs, and many cats, fly as checked baggage in the hold or as manifest cargo in an airline-approved crate.

Airline rules change often, and snub-nosed breeds face extra limits. We confirm the carrier, aircraft and mode for your pet before anything is booked, and we tell you when a summer heat embargo or an aircraft change forces a different routing. Cabin, checked baggage or cargo explains the three modes; choosing an IATA travel crate covers the crate.

If your dog will come back to the U.S. one day

Mainland China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia are on the CDC's list of high-risk countries for dog rabies. A U.S.-vaccinated dog that lives in one of them and later returns needs the CDC's Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination, endorsed by USDA before the dog leaves the United States. It cannot be done from abroad. We add it to the outbound plan whenever a return is possible; see CDC dog import rules.

Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are not on that list, so a dog returning from them needs only the CDC Dog Import Form.

Mistakes that cost months

• A rabies shot given before the microchip. Japan and Taiwan restart the sequence after a compliant chip.
• A titer sent to a lab the destination does not recognize.
• A flight booked before the waiting period ends. Japan detains early arrivals for the missing days.
• A certificate signed too early for the destination's validity window.
• Assuming the pet can fly in the cabin, then discovering the route requires cargo.
• Leaving the CDC return certification until after departure.