Preparing from scratch takes 4 weeks to 5 months, depending on where you fly from.
Northern Mariana Islands sets its own requirements for bringing in dogs and cats. From any departure country your pet needs microchip, rabies vaccination and veterinary health certificate. What is needed on top — rabies antibody titre test — depends on the country you fly from. The rules are the same for dogs and cats.
Order matters more than the list: the microchip goes in before the rabies vaccination, or the vaccination does not count.
Free, no signup: timings, documents and airlines for your pet
The limits people find out about last: how many animals one person may bring, the minimum age and which breeds are turned away at the border.
These are the country's rules. Airlines refuse some breeds on their own — their limits are in the carrier table above.
The full list of documents and procedures for entering Northern Mariana Islands. Every item carries its official source and last-checked date, and is marked as always required or required only from some departure countries.
Your pet should be identified with a 15-digit pet microchip which is compliant with ISO 11784 or Annex A of ISO standard 11785 prior to getting a rabies vaccination.
Your dog or cat must have been vaccinated at least twice in its lifetime for rabies and those vaccinations must be more than 90 days apart.
Not required from every departure country — checking your own route gives the exact answer.
A rabies antibody (FAVN) test is required from the United States too: blood is drawn no sooner than 30 days after vaccination, the result must be above 1.0 IU/ml, and the laboratory must be CDC-approved. The 120-day wait does not apply here — the permit ties it to arrivals from outside the United States. Hawaii is a special case: the CNMI recognises it as rabies-free and no test is needed from there, but we distinguish countries rather than states, so we show the requirement to everyone departing from the United States.
international export health certificate issued by a licensed veterinarian in the origination country.
The order matters more than the list: a step done too early has to be repeated. The intervals come from the same rule fields the engine uses for the earliest departure date.
Steps marked “depends on origin” are not needed by everyone — see the table above or check your own route.
Lapaport's engine on six examples, counted from zero: a dog of no particular breed with nothing done yet — no microchip, no vaccination, no tests — starting preparation today. Columns marked “always” are required from anywhere.
| From | Microchipalways | Rabies jabalways | Titre test | Health certificatealways | Earliest departurepreparing from scratch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | February 23, 2027 | Plan → |
| 🇫🇷 France | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | February 23, 2027 | Plan → |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | February 23, 2027 | Plan → |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | February 23, 2027 | Plan → |
| 🇨🇳 China | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | February 23, 2027 | Plan → |
| 🇺🇸 United States | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 26, 2026 | Plan → |
If the microchip and vaccination are already done, the wait is shorter: the clock runs from the vaccination date, not from today. Breed, weight and connections change the answer too — check your own route with the form above.
The country's rules place no restriction on the arrival airport. Below are airports with direct flights; marked where we have documented the arrival procedure.
From any country: microchip, rabies vaccination, veterinary health certificate. Depends on the departure country: rabies antibody titre test.
It depends on the departure country. From United Kingdom, for example, it is required. The form above gives the exact answer for your route.
The country's rules list no breed bans. Individual airlines have their own restrictions — see the carrier table.