Bringing a dog or cat to Brazil: rules and paperwork

To bring a dog or cat into Brazil, you need an International Veterinary Certificate (CVI) issued by your home country’s veterinary authority, on the model Brazil made mandatory on September 6, 2025. The CVI is valid for 60 days from issue. Your pet needs a rabies vaccination from 90 days of age, given at least 21 days before travel if it is the first dose.

This page covers dogs and cats traveling from the United States and the United Kingdom. It walks through Brazil’s rules, the US and UK certificates, arrival, airlines and the trip home. Other species follow a separate import permit.

The rule behind it

Brazil’s entry rules for dogs and cats sit in Portaria MAPA 741 of December 10, 2024. It was published in the Diário Oficial on December 12, 2024, and took effect that day. It brings Mercosur resolution GMC 20/24 into Brazilian law and revokes the older rule, Instrução Normativa MAPA 5 of 2013.

The official CVI model became mandatory from September 6, 2025. The CVI is issued in your home country. In Brazil, VIGIAGRO, the Ministry of Agriculture’s international agricultural surveillance service, checks it at the airport or border.

What Brazil requires

Brazil’s checklist is short, but every timing matters. The table sums up Portaria 741.

Border staff must not keep your original CVI (art. 7). Bring copies as well.

If your pet does not meet the rules on arrival, the veterinary authority can reject it, send it back, hold it or take other measures (art. 18). The costs fall on you (art. 19). Article 4 makes the owner solely responsible for the crate and the means of transport.

Microchip

Brazil’s rule does not force a microchip on every dog or cat. Article 17 leaves identification to the country of origin. The USDA health certificate for Brazil marks the microchip fields as optional.

Chip your pet anyway. A chip is mandatory for Brazil’s own pet passport, and the chip is read on arrival in Brazil for passport holders. The UK requires a chip before the rabies vaccination for any pet coming home, and the US requires one for dogs returning from Brazil. Use an ISO 11784 or 11785 chip, and get it implanted before the rabies shot.

From the United States: USDA APHIS

APHIS, the USDA’s animal health agency, issues the health certificate for dogs and cats going to Brazil. The process runs through your vet.

1. A USDA-accredited veterinarian checks that your pet meets Brazil’s rules and fills in the certificate.
2. The vet submits it through VEHCS, the Veterinary Export Health Certification System.
3. USDA endorses it electronically and returns it.
4. You print the endorsed certificate from VEHCS. The printed copy travels with your pet.

The certificate is valid for 60 days from the date the accredited vet signs it, and it must still be valid when your pet arrives in Brazil. It sets the same timings as Brazil: an exam within 10 days and parasite treatment within 15 days before issue, and a first rabies vaccination at least 21 days before departure.

Check before you go: before you book the vet visit, ask USDA Veterinary Export Trade Services (askvets@usda.gov) to confirm that the current APHIS certificate for Brazil (form NL 0325) matches the official CVI model Brazil requires. Ask your vet to use the latest version in VEHCS.

USDA charges a fee to endorse the certificate, paid through your vet’s VEHCS account. The fee is US$101 for a certificate with no lab tests, whatever the number of pets. Brazil’s certificate requires no lab test, so US$101 is the figure that applies. Your vet adds their own exam and certificate fee.

From the United Kingdom: APHA certificate 2906

The UK uses export health certificate 2906, “Export cats and dogs to Brazil,” from APHA, the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

• England, Scotland and Wales: apply online. You need a Government Gateway account and a Defra account, and so does your Official Veterinarian.
• Northern Ireland: complete the certificate inside DAERA’s online export system (DECS). This changed on May 6, 2026.

An Official Veterinarian signs and stamps the certificate in any ink color other than black. Unused sections for Brazil must be struck through electronically. Manual strikethroughs can lead to detention or refusal.

The certificate requires parasite treatment within the past 15 days. It is valid for 60 days from issue. It also says it “must be presented at any Mercosul border control position 10 days after it has been issued.”

Plan to land in Brazil within 10 days of the UK certificate’s issue. That meets the certificate’s own wording and Brazil’s 60-day rule at the same time, and it cannot strand your pet.

Check before you go: ask APHA (03000 200 301 for England, Scotland and Wales) whether EHC 2906 is accepted as Brazil’s official CVI model, and ask APHA and your Official Veterinarian for their fees. If your arrival airport is unusual, ask its VIGIAGRO unit how it checks UK certificates.

On arrival in Brazil

Present the original CVI to VIGIAGRO at your arrival airport or border post. Check VIGIAGRO opening hours with the Federal Superintendency of Agriculture (SFA) of your state before you book an evening or weekend arrival.

Baggage may be selected for VIGIAGRO inspection. Check the allowed and prohibited lists first, to avoid the loss and destruction of products and the seizure of animals.

Pet food is on those lists (Ordinance 872 of December 12, 2025). Industrialized, processed feed and snacks for your own animals may enter if they are in intact original packaging with a label showing the product, its composition, the health authority and the country of origin. Raw chews, homemade food and feed additives are prohibited. Declare the food to VIGIAGRO if you are unsure how it is classified.

Pet food is easy to buy in Brazilian cities. Pet shops and supermarkets stock international and local brands, so you only need enough for the first days.

Other animals

Rabbits, ferrets, chinchillas and other companion animals need an import authorization from the Ministry of Agriculture. You request it from the SFA of the state where you will live or stay, before you travel. Allow plenty of time, since this is a separate process from the CVI.

Airlines

Each airline sets its own rules for pets in the cabin or hold, crate sizes and breed limits. Brazil’s rule makes the owner responsible for the crate and transport (art. 4). Read your airline’s pet page and confirm your pet’s breed and crate size before you pay.

Snub-nosed breeds, such as pugs, bulldogs and Persian cats, face restrictions on many airlines, especially in the hold. Long-haul flights from the US and UK to Brazil are often overnight. Book a direct flight where you can, so your pet spends less time in transit.

Living in Brazil with a pet

Brazil is a pet-friendly country in daily life. Most cities have plenty of vets, pet shops and grooming services.

• Heat. Much of Brazil is hot and humid. Walk dogs early and late, and carry water.
• Parasites. Ticks, fleas and mosquito-borne diseases are common in many regions. Ask a local vet about preventives, including protection against leishmaniasis.
• Renting. Many buildings allow pets, but some condo rules restrict them. Check before you sign. See renting an apartment in Brazil.
• Travel inside Brazil. Domestic airlines and long-distance buses have their own pet rules.

Leaving Brazil and going home

The trip home needs its own paperwork, and the return rules are stricter than the entry rules.

Out of Brazil. VIGIAGRO issues a CVI for leaving Brazil. If you leave with one to a listed country, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, your pet can return to Brazil within 60 days on that CVI, while the rabies vaccine is valid.

Back to the United States. The CDC lists Brazil as a high-risk country for dog rabies. Any dog that was in Brazil in the 6 months before entry must meet the CDC’s high-risk rules, and dogs without a rabies vaccination are refused. For a dog vaccinated in the US, the CDC requires:

• Age of at least 6 months at entry. A dog getting its first rabies vaccine must be at least 12 weeks (84 days) old at vaccination.
• A microchip that a universal scanner can read, implanted before the rabies vaccine.
• The CDC form “Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination,” completed by a USDA-accredited vet and endorsed by USDA before the dog leaves the US.
• A CDC Dog Import Form receipt, one per dog, valid for one entry. The arrival airport, border crossing or seaport must match the receipt.

A rabies titer applies to dogs not vaccinated in the US. Use the CDC Dog Importation Navigator to see which set of rules applies to your dog.

Cats do not need proof of rabies vaccination to enter the US. They must appear healthy and are subject to inspection at the port of entry. Your destination state may have its own rules.

Back to Great Britain. Great Britain requires a microchip before the rabies vaccination, a wait of at least 21 days after the first vaccination, and a pet travel document. Dogs need tapeworm treatment no less than 24 hours and no more than 5 days before arrival.

Brazil is not on Great Britain’s list of “listed” countries, so it counts as unlisted. Your pet needs a Great Britain pet health certificate and a rabies blood test to come home. The blood sample is taken at least 30 days after vaccination, and you then wait 3 months before travel. An exception applies if the vaccination, blood test and pet passport or GB health certificate were done in the EU before the pet went to an unlisted country.

Check before you go: before you leave Great Britain, ask APHA (03000 200 301) whether a blood test taken in Great Britain before departure removes the 3-month wait on return. If it does, have it done before you fly.

Timeline checklist

1. Months ahead: microchip your pet with an ISO chip. UK owners: ask your vet about the rabies blood test for the return.
2. At least 21 days before travel: rabies vaccination, if it is the first dose. Your pet must be 90 days old or more.
3. Book the airline: confirm pet space and crate rules.
4. Within 15 days before the CVI: internal and external parasite treatment.
5. Within 10 days before the CVI: clinical exam by the vet.
6. Issue the certificate: USDA endorsement through VEHCS, or EHC 2906 signed by a UK Official Veterinarian.
7. Fly: within 60 days of issue, and within 10 days for a UK certificate.
8. Arrive: show the original CVI to VIGIAGRO and keep copies.

Who should think twice

Bringing a pet is worth it for long stays, but some cases are hard:

• Short trips. The paperwork and the stricter return rules rarely pay off for a few weeks.
• Snub-nosed or very large breeds. Airline limits can make the flight difficult.
• Pets with a leishmaniasis diagnosis. Brazil may refuse entry.
• Dogs returning to the US soon. The CDC high-risk rules add steps and costs on the way back.

If you plan a long stay with your pet, compare residence options on Brazil visas and residency: every route, and read renting an apartment in Brazil before you sign a lease. For moving around the country, see domestic flights in Brazil, and for what else you can bring, see the Brazil customs allowance.