Every country has its own entry requirements for pets, and getting even one document wrong can delay a trip by weeks. Here's the checklist our coordinators actually use, organized by how far ahead of travel you should start.
8-10 weeks before
Confirm your destination country's requirements and book a vet appointment for microchipping if your pet doesn't already have an ISO-compliant chip. Most countries require the chip to be placed before the rabies vaccination for it to count.
“The single most common delay we see is a rabies vaccine given before the microchip — it has to be redone in the correct order.”
4-6 weeks before
Schedule your health certificate appointment. Most certificates are only valid for 10 days before travel, so timing this correctly matters more than almost any other step.
1-2 weeks before
Confirm crate approval with your airline, print all documents in triplicate, and reconfirm your flight's live-animal policy hasn't changed. If any of this sounds overwhelming, that's exactly what a coordinator is for — every document on this list gets checked and endorsed before we let a client fly.