FAQ

An Animal Health Certificate (AHC) is an official veterinary document required for dogs, cats and ferrets travelling from the UK to the EU and Northern Ireland for non-commercial reasons. The certificate is issued by Official Veterinarians and must be done within 10 days of your trip.  

To obtain an AHC, your pet must be microchipped and have a valid rabies vaccination given at least 21 days beforehand. We will need proof of the rabies vaccination (which is explained in the next FAQ) and microchip number. To request an AHC from us please Book AHC here. 

As an online based business we do all the preparation and checks before the appointment. This includes gathering evidence of the rabies vaccination. 

We will need to contact the vet practice where your pet’s rabies vaccination was administered. Once we have requested the clinical notes, we will ask you to contact the practice to authorise sharing your pet’s information. The notes need to be sent to us directly from the Vet practice.

If your pet has an upcoming rabies vaccination, please take our declaration form for the vet to fill out. The completed form needs to be emailed to us directly from your vet practice: Microchip scanning & Rabies vaccination Certificate (Fillable PDF) - FOR VETS TO FILL

Your vets can also fill in this form after the vaccination appointment, but it needs to be sent to us directly from them.

In exceptional circumstances, we can accept other forms of evidence including:

* Existing pet passport: https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad/pet-passport

* Certified rabies certificate: The vet’s full name, signature, and practice stamp must be visible on the document for rabies and microchip records to be certified. A validated document bears the vet’s personal name, signature, and stamp. The records can therefore be authenticated with the vet’s credentials clearly indicated.

Please note, we cannot accept vaccination cards or receipts as evidence.

If a document has not been certified correctly we cannot accept this as evidence. Unfortunately we find nearly all vaccine cards, as not certified correctly, which is why it is our policy to contact the vet practice in nearly all cases. One of the most common failings of evidence is that there needs to be evidence that your pets microchip was checked at the time of the rabies vaccination appointment.

One of the reasons we set up this business is to offer cheap Animal Health Certificates to pet owners across the country. As we specialise in providing AHCs our processes are optimised to allow us to issue the cheapest Animal Health Certificates possible.

The most up to date prices can be found on our Home page - https://vethomecerts.co.uk/

Our prices are £99 for a standard AHC with each additional pet £30.
We also offer collection point discounts at some of our collection points. For our standard AHCs we have had to received all the required questionnaires and evidence, with enough time to review these documents more than 7 days ahead of your appointment slot. 

For Urgent AHCs - where we receive the required information within 7 days of your appointment slot. 

For Repeat AHCs, where we have issued the previous Animal Health Certificate, we offer these at £79. You can still benefit from collection point discounts and additional pets are only £20 each.

If you have any questions or require clarification please contact us.

To get an AHC, first fill out our initial request AHC form which will ask you for some basic details. 

We'll follow up with a more detailed form tailored to your needs  (If you have your information with you this will take less than 5 mins). Once we sort out the details and payment, then we will confirm the appointment slot with you. This will need to be booked at least 21 days after your pet's first rabies vaccine and within 10 days of travel. Once you are happy you send us the balance and we will make the AHC for you.

It's best to plan ahead – we suggest booking your AHC at least 3 weeks before you travel. This gives us enough time to gather all the necessary documents and prepare your certificate. Left it late? Our Urgent service can help if you’re within 7 days of travel.

We tend to only arrange appointments within 2 months before your travel date so that we can be as sure as possible about the appointment time we offer.

After you've given us all your pet's details and had you booking confirmed by us, after your payment, we'll arrange a home visit or a Collection point visit. Payment for the AHC is required in advance to confirm the booking.

During this visit, our vet will scan your pet's microchip, witness you signing the declaration, and provide the completed AHC. This typically takes 10-15 minutes.

After you've given us all your pet's details and had you booking confirmed by us, after your payment, we'll arrange a home visit or a Collection point visit. Payment for the AHC is required in advance to confirm the booking.

Preparation: We handle all the paperwork and preparation in advance. By the time you meet our veterinary surgeon, there’s only the final signatures and details to complete.

Meeting Points: Instead of traditional consult room visits, we utilise convenient collection points for our appointments. These locations are typically outside, such as parking lots or easily accessible public areas. This method not only saves time but also reduces stress for both you and your pet.

Stay in Your Car: For the safety and comfort of your pets, we ask that you keep them in your car until the veterinary surgeon speaks with you and provides further instructions.

Using what3words for Precision: To ensure that you can find our veterinarians easily and without confusion, we use what3words. This navigation system divides the world into three-meter squares, each with a unique three-word address. This means even in crowded or vague areas, like near a supermarket, you can find the exact location of your vet without any guesswork.

Navigation Made Simple: Once you receive the what3words address for your meeting point, simply click on the provided link, select 'Navigate' and then choose 'Google Maps' to get direct directions to your appointment.

Our system is designed to make your experience as smooth and straightforward as possible, ensuring that your pet's health certification is handled efficiently and with great care

See here for the current locations.

We are frequently adding new areas of coverage so please keep checking back here, for the latest locations.

If we are currently unable to cover your area please email us at [email protected] your details so we can let you know when we cover your location.

The owner who will be travelling with the pets (or reuniting with your pets within 5 days) needs to be present to sign the declaration. If the owner cannot attend, please let us know if it will be an Authorised person or Carrier company by submitting details into the Request AHC appointment form, so we can complete the AHC accordingly.

By law we must scan your pet's microchip in person before issuing an AHC, as well as witness the owner signing the declaration so we cannot post them. Your pet must be seen at the home visit/ at the vets set collection point.

As we prepare your AHC paperwork in advance of the visit, payment is required upfront to confirm the booking. This helps us ensure everything goes smoothly on the day of your appointment.

Once the appointment has been confirmed additional or other administrative changes incur a small £30 admin fee. Changes within 2 weeks of visit may not be possible. This is because we do all the preparation in advance and this may mean us re-issuing some forms. We only confirm appointments once we have all the required information.

If when you are booking the AHC you are not sure of the arrival date into the EU please email us about this to see if we can arrange something to mitigate issues.

Yes, tapeworm treatment is required 1-5 days before entering Ireland, Northern Ireland, Finland, Norway or Malta: https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad/tapeworm-treatment-for-dogs

If you have an authorised worming treatment with you at the time of your booking we may be able to witness and update the AHC accordingly - we will arrange this prior to the appointment.

No problem, just let us know in advance. We'll need a signed letter from the registered owner and proof of the traveller's plans.

Our focus is solely on providing Animal Health Certificates. For other vet services, like vaccinations, you'll need to contact your regular vets.

UK-issued pet passports are no longer valid for travel. You need an AHC instead: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-from-1-january-2021

In the UK, most rabies vaccines are valid for 3 years. In the EU, rabies vaccines are usually only valid for 1 year regardless of brand.

Yes, pets need to enter through an approved Travellers Point of Entry. Check out the link for detailed information. https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/pet-movement/eu-legislation/non-commercial-non-eu/tpe_en.

You can have up to 5 pets on a single AHC, as long as they're all owned by the same person.

The AHC is valid for 10 days after issue before arrival in the EU, and then it's good for 4 months while you're travelling within the EU.

Dogs need EU approved tapeworm treatment 24 - 120 before travel back to the UK, witness and signed by a veterinarian: https://www.gov.uk/bring-pet-to-great-britain/tapeworm-treatment-dogs