FAQ

An Animal Health Certificate (AHC) is an official veterinary document for dogs, cats and ferrets travelling from Great Britain to the EU for non-commercial purposes. It records your pet’s identification, rabies vaccination and any required tapeworm treatment. An Official Veterinarian must issue it within 10 days before your pet enters the EU.

As part of issuing the AHC, the vet will inspect your pet at the appointment to certify that there are no visible signs of infectious disease.

Your pet must be microchipped and have a valid rabies vaccination, with the required waiting period completed after a primary vaccination. We need acceptable evidence of the vaccination and microchip details in advance, as explained below. Request your AHC here.

As an online service, we complete the necessary checks and prepare your Animal Health Certificate before the appointment. We must therefore receive acceptable evidence of your pet’s microchip and rabies vaccination details in advance.

Clinical records sent directly by the veterinary practice that administered the rabies vaccination will usually contain the information we need.

Please contact the relevant veterinary practice and ask them to send your pet’s clinical records directly to us. The practice will require your consent before releasing them. It is the pet owner’s responsibility to arrange this.

We cannot normally accept clinical records supplied by pet owners because we need to verify that the information has come directly from the veterinary practice.

In exceptional circumstances, we may be able to accept:

• An original, valid EU pet passport
• A certified rabies vaccination certificate showing the vet’s full name, signature and practice stamp
• Certified microchip records showing the vet’s full name, signature and practice stamp

The veterinary details must be clear enough for us to authenticate the records.

We cannot accept vaccination cards, receipts or invoices as evidence for issuing an Animal Health Certificate.

If the rabies vaccination was administered in Great Britain and later copied into an EU pet passport by an EU vet, please ask the GB veterinary practice that administered the vaccine to send the original clinical records directly to us. We have seen several cases where vaccinations have been transcribed into passports incorrectly.

Acceptance of any evidence remains subject to review by the Official Veterinarian issuing the Animal Health Certificate.

An original EU pet passport may be accepted as evidence of rabies vaccination when preparing an Animal Health Certificate, provided the vaccination is valid and all required information has been recorded correctly.

Please send clear photographs or scans of the following pages:

• Owner details
• Pet details
• Identification or “marking of animal” details
• Rabies vaccination details

The passport number must be visible in every photograph or scan.

You must also bring the original passport to your appointment. Photographs or scans alone are not sufficient because the Official Veterinarian must examine the original document used as evidence.

Please note that EU-style pet passports previously issued in Great Britain are no longer valid as travel documents. However, they may still provide supporting evidence of a rabies vaccination if the entries are complete, correct and acceptable to the issuing Official Veterinarian.

We are finding a number of problems with rabies vaccination entries in pet passports, including:

• Booster vaccinations recorded with incorrect validity periods
• Vaccinations recorded as valid for three years when this is not supported by the vaccination history
• Different vaccine brands used without clear evidence that the correct booster protocol was followed
• Unclear microchip numbers
• Rabies vaccination dates or validity dates that appear to have been altered

If the information is incorrect, incomplete or cannot be verified, we may not be able to issue an Animal Health Certificate using the passport as evidence.

Rabisin and Rabigen Mono vaccinations

We are seeing many passports in which Rabisin or Rabigen Mono vaccinations have been recorded as valid for three years.

According to the manufacturer’s guidance:

• These vaccines are generally valid for one year when given as a primary vaccination
• A validity period of up to three years may apply when the vaccine is given as a booster within the correct timeframe and the relevant vaccination requirements have been met

If Rabisin or Rabigen Mono was given after a different vaccine brand, or the previous vaccination history is unclear, it may need to be treated as a primary vaccination.

In that situation, your pet may require another rabies vaccination followed by a wait of at least 21 days before an Animal Health Certificate can be issued.

An entry made by an EU vet showing a vaccination as valid for three years does not automatically mean that a UK Official Veterinarian can accept it. The issuing vet must be satisfied that the recorded validity is supported by the vaccine information and vaccination history.

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. (One area in central london standard AHC is £110 (seen on map and prices page)).
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 and payment within 7 days of your appointment slot - £199 plus £30 for each additional pet. 

For Repeat AHCs, where we have issued the previous Animal Health Certificate, we offer these at £89. You can still benefit from collection point discounts and additional pets are only £25 each. To be eligible for a Repeat AHC, The same Vet working within the Vet Home Certs network needs to have issued the previous AHC with the repeat AHC having the same Owner, Pet and Language as previous AHC. This includes the same valid rabies vaccination as used in the previously issued AHC.

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 via UK bank transfer 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.

Please arrange for the owner to attend with all pets listed on the AHC wherever possible. Having the owner present makes it easier to confirm the details and complete the signatures. Every pet named on the certificate must attend so the vet can inspect your pet and verify the microchip.

If the pet will travel with an authorised person instead of the owner, that person may attend and sign the AHC when this has been arranged with us in advance. The vet must see proof that the owner is travelling within five days before or after the pet.

An authorised person attending without the owner must bring the owner-signed authorisation letter, using our template downloadable in Stage 2 and in the language of the first country of entry. If the owner attends, the vet will bring the letter for the owner to sign.

After you have submitted your pet's details and we have received evidence of your pet's rabies vaccination, an appointment will be arranged. If your address is located within a home delivery area, your AHC may be issued during a home visit appointment. Payment for the AHC is required in advance to confirm the booking.

At the home visit, the vet will inspect your pet for visible signs of infectious disease, scan the microchip, oversee the declaration signing and issue the AHC. Please have the owner attend wherever possible to keep the appointment straightforward. If an authorised person will attend and sign, arrange this in advance and follow the authorisation requirements above. The appointment typically takes around 10 minutes.

Once you have submitted all information and we have received evidence of your pet's rabies vaccination, an appointment will be arranged. A popular appointment option is to meet one of the vets at a collection point. 

At the collection point, the vet will inspect your pet for signs of infectious disease and verify the microchip before completing the AHC. We encourage the owner to come with the pet, as this makes the details and signatures easier to manage. An authorised person travelling with the pet can sign instead if agreed beforehand; please see the attendance and authorisation guidance above. Appointments typically last around 10 minutes. 

Meeting Points: Instead of traditional consult room visits, we utilise convenient collection points for our appointments. These locations are typically outside, such as car parks 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 vet speaks with you and provides further instructions.

Using what3words for Precision: To ensure that you can find our vets 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.
 

See here for the current locations.

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

Your pet must attend in person. The vet needs to inspect your pet for visible signs of infectious disease, scan the microchip and witness the declaration being signed by the owner or the authorised person travelling with the pet, as arranged in advance. We therefore cannot issue the AHC entirely online or send it by post.

Please choose a home visit or collection-point appointment that the owner can attend with the pet wherever possible.

As we prepare your AHC paperwork in advance of the visit, payment is required upfront to confirm the appointment.

This helps us ensure everything goes smoothly on the day of your appointment. We only take payment via UK bank transfer.

The time we receive payment determines whether the AHC is classed as standard or urgent. We can only request payment once we have all the required information.

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. A change in date is dependent upon the vets availability and needs to be within a few days from the originally arranged appointment. This is because we do all the preparation in advance and this may mean us re-issuing some forms. As we do all the work beforehand - our AHC creation process begins immediately after we receive payment, therefore our standard policy for cancellations is that no refunds will be issued. 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.

Please note typically we ask you to bring the wormer to the appointmetn however the Liverpool based vet - Andrea can supply this wormer for you.

If the owner is not travelling with the pet, an authorised person must accompany the pet. Tell us about this when requesting the AHC so that the certificate can be prepared correctly.

The vet must see proof that the owner is travelling within five days before or after the pet.

Use the authorisation-letter template supplied for download in Stage 2 after your request. The letter must be in the language of the first country your pet enters. If the authorised person attends the appointment without the owner, they must bring the letter already signed by the owner. When the owner attends, the vet will bring the letter for the owner to sign.

Either the owner or the authorised person travelling with the pet can sign the AHC at the appointment, as agreed in advance. We recommend owner attendance wherever possible because confirming the details and signing the paperwork is simpler.

Up to 5 pets can be listed on the same AHC. Mulitple pets can only be listed on a single AHC is they all share an owner and are travelling together. 

The AHC is valid for EU entry for 10 days from issue. Day 1 is the date of issue (the appointment date), and day 10 is the final day it can be used to enter the EU with your pet, until midnight.

After entry, the AHC is valid for up to six months for onward travel within the EU and the return journey to Great Britain, or until the current rabies vaccination expires, whichever comes first.

A new AHC is needed for each new trip from Great Britain to the EU.

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

Please take note of the travel checklist from the APHA: Travel Checklist

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. However please always check directly with the vet who administered the rabies vaccine as this depends on the licensing of that specific vaccine.

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.

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

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