Preparing from scratch takes about 4 weeks, wherever you fly from.
Vietnam sets its own requirements for bringing in dogs and cats. From any departure country your pet needs rabies vaccination, microchip and veterinary health certificate. The rules are the same for dogs and cats.
Pets may not enter through just any airport: there are 3 designated points. Order matters more than the list: the microchip goes in before the rabies vaccination, or the vaccination does not count. 42 carriers in our directory fly direct to Vietnam, and their pet conditions differ.
Free, no signup: timings, documents and airlines for your pet
42 airlines in our directory fly direct to and from Vietnam. Their conditions differ — the cabin weight limit, whether they carry pets in the hold, the fee and breed restrictions — so it is worth choosing the carrier before buying the ticket.
| Airline | Cabin | Hold | Cabin fee | Direct flights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam Airlines no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · no snub-nosed breeds in the cabin · banned breeds: 35 |
✓ up to 6 kg | ✓ up to 32 kg | — | from 42 cities in 22 countries |
| Nordwind Airlines | ✓ up to 8 kg | ✓ | — | from 8 cities in 1 country |
| China Eastern Airlines no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · banned breeds: 9 |
no pets | ✓ up to 32 kg | — | from 6 cities in 1 country |
| China Southern Airlines no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · banned breeds: 5 |
no pets | ✓ up to 32 kg | — | from 5 cities in 1 country |
| Aeroflot no snub-nosed breeds in the hold |
✓ up to 8 kg | ✓ up to 50 kg | 3800 RUB per flight |
from 5 cities in 1 country |
| Ikar (Pegas Fly) | ✓ up to 8 kg | ✓ up to 50 kg | 2500 RUB per flight |
from 5 cities in 1 country |
| T'way Air | ✓ up to 9 kg | no pets | — | from 4 cities in 1 country |
| Air China no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · banned breeds: 29 |
no pets | ✓ up to 32 kg | — | from 4 cities in 1 country |
| Emirates no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · no snub-nosed breeds in the cabin |
no pets | ✓ | — | from 3 cities in 2 countries |
| China Airlines (Taiwan) no snub-nosed breeds in the hold · banned breeds: 21 |
no pets | ✓ up to 32 kg | — | from 3 cities in 3 countries |
Showing the 10 carriers serving the most cities out of 42 with direct flights. Schedules: AeroDataBox, AirLabs, Travelpayouts; pet conditions come from our airline directory.
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.
A pet is cleared by the Regional Animal Health Office, and those offices work at the Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang airports. Resort airports (Cam Ranh, Phu Quoc, Hai Phong) have none — check this BEFORE buying tickets.
The full list of documents and procedures for entering Vietnam. Every item carries its official source and last-checked date, and is marked as always required or required only from some departure countries.
The pet must be microchipped to ISO Standard 11784; the certifying veterinarian verifies the presence of the microchip on the certificate.
The rabies vaccination must be administered at least 30 days before entry and within 12 months of entry (the 12-month window applies regardless of vaccine type).
This certificate is valid for 30 days from the Date of Issue to the Date of Departure.
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.
The requirements are the same whichever country you fly from — this country draws no distinction between departure countries. Below is the same engine answer on six examples, counted from zero: no microchip and no vaccination yet, preparation starting today.
| From | Microchip | Rabies jab | Health certificate | Earliest departurepreparing from scratch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 25, 2026 | Plan → |
| 🇫🇷 France | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 25, 2026 | Plan → |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 25, 2026 | Plan → |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 25, 2026 | Plan → |
| 🇨🇳 China | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 25, 2026 | Plan → |
| 🇺🇸 United States | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | October 25, 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.
Pets may not enter through just any airport. Below: where direct flights go and whether animals are accepted.
From any country: microchip, rabies vaccination, veterinary health certificate.
No, a titre test is not required for entry.
The country's rules list no breed bans. Individual airlines have their own restrictions — see the carrier table.
For example: Vietnam Airlines, Nordwind Airlines, Aeroflot, Ikar (Pegas Fly), T'way Air. The full list with conditions is in the table above.