🇫🇮Taking a dog or cat to Finland: entry rules and flights

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

An ISO-standard microchip implanted by a veterinarian. A tattoo qualifies only if applied before 3 July 2011 and legible. If the chip does not meet the technical requirements, the owner must provide the reading device at the check. The chip goes in BEFORE the rabies vaccination: a vaccination given before microchipping does not count.

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

A complete primary course of rabies vaccination finished at least 21 days before travel, or a valid booster. The vaccination is given no earlier than 12 weeks of age. The 21 days run from the last dose of the primary course; a booster given on time needs no waiting, but a lapsed vaccination returns the animal to first-vaccination status — and to the 21-day wait.

Puppies and kittens under 16 weeks are a separate case, shown as a condition at the top of the answer.

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

A rabies antibody blood test — required only for countries listed in neither Annex I nor Annex II to Implementing Regulation 2026/636 (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Georgia, China, India and others). Blood is drawn no earlier than 30 days after vaccination, and three months must pass between sampling and entry. The result must be at least 0.5 IU/ml from a Commission-approved laboratory. As long as boosters stay on schedule, the titre need not be repeated.

CAVEAT: the numbers themselves come from Annex XXI to Delegated Regulation 2020/692, referenced by Article 14(c); the annex text could not be opened on EUR-Lex, so the figures are carried over from the previous version of our data.

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

For DOGS only: treatment against Echinococcus multilocularis administered by a vet 24–120 hours before entry and recorded in the document. Finland is recognised as free of this parasite and the requirement protects that status. It does not apply to cats. Entry from an Annex I country follows a different scheme: at least two treatments 24 hours to 28 days apart and then regularly, at intervals not exceeding 28 days.

An alternative to “Veterinary health certificate”: you need one of the two, and which one depends on the departure country.

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

The EU pet passport is the only document needed for movement between Member States. It is signed by the owner and must have been issued in the Union country where the owner habitually resides. No separate health certificate is required, and nothing needs re-issuing for each trip. Where the records do not fit, the animal may travel with more than one passport.

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

A written declaration by the owner that the movement is NON-commercial — that is, the pet is not being sold or transferred to another owner. It is attached to the certificate. If the pet travels with an authorised person rather than the owner, a written authorisation is attached and the trip must take place within FIVE days of the owner's own journey. No more than five animals per movement; more are allowed only for a show or competition, with written proof of registration and for animals over six months old.

An alternative to “Pet passport”: you need one of the two, and which one depends on the departure country.

Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.

An animal health certificate on the single EU model. It is issued by an official veterinarian of the country of departure, or by an authorised veterinarian and then endorsed by the competent authority — no more than 10 days before entry (for sea transport the period is extended by the duration of the voyage).

Important and useful: after the border check the certificate remains valid for a further six months — or until the rabies vaccination expires, whichever comes first. During that time you may travel around the Union without re-issuing anything. Certified copies of the vaccination details and, where a titre is required, the laboratory report are attached to it.