4 November 2026

Taking your pet to the EU this Christmas: the dates you need to work back from

Christmas is the one trip people book early and then leave the pet paperwork until last. It catches a lot of owners out, because the two rules that matter pull in opposite directions: one has to happen weeks in advance, and the other cannot be done early at all. Here is how to work back from your departure date.

The two deadlines

Rabies vaccination: at least 21 days before you travel. If your pet has never been vaccinated, or the booster has lapsed, the clock starts on the day of the injection and you cannot travel for 21 days afterwards. There is no way to shorten it. This is the deadline that stops trips.

The certificate: issued within 10 days of arriving in the EU. An Animal Health Certificate cannot be issued earlier than that, so the appointment itself has to sit in the 10 days before you go. Booking in November does not mean getting the certificate in November — it means holding a slot in December.

Your dates for Christmas 2026

Find the day you are leaving, then read across.

If you are flying or sailing overnight, work from the day you arrive in the EU rather than the day you set off.

The bit people forget: coming home

If you are taking a dog, it needs a tapeworm treatment before it can come back into Great Britain. That treatment has to be given by a vet 24 to 120 hours (one to five days) before you arrive back, and it has to be recorded in your certificate — so it has to be done by a vet in the country you are visiting, not before you leave home.

Over Christmas and New Year that is harder than it sounds. If you are driving back in the first week of January, you need a vet appointment abroad in the days just before, and practices there have holiday hours too. Find one and book it before you travel, rather than ringing round on 2 January.

You are exempt if you are coming back directly from Finland, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Malta or Norway. Dogs travelling to those places need the same treatment on the way out.

Book the slot now, even though the certificate comes later

The appointment and the certificate are two different things. The certificate has to be issued inside that 10-day window, but the slot is booked well in advance — and the mid-December slots are the ones that go first, because everybody needs the same fortnight.

Send your documents over once you have booked and we will check them free of charge beforehand. That is when problems with the rabies dates come to light, and in November there is still time to do something about them. In the week before Christmas there is not.

A quick checklist

1. Check your pet's rabies vaccination is in date, and that it was given after the microchip was fitted. If not, book that first.
2. Work out your arrival date and book an appointment in the 10 days before it.
3. If you are taking a dog, arrange the return tapeworm treatment with a vet at your destination before you set off.
4. Keep the certificate with you for the whole trip — you need it to come home.

Book your AHC appointment — evening and weekend slots available.

Read next

• Your AHC appointment checklist: exactly what to bring
• Pet passports are coming back — what the UK–EU deal means
• Animal Health Certificate FAQs — validity, timings, prices and multiple pets