Moving Your Dog from China to the USA: Requirements

Last reviewed and updated on September 14 2026

TLDR: China is a CDC high-risk country for dog rabies, so the requirements depend on where your dog was vaccinated. Dogs vaccinated in the US follow one path; dogs vaccinated in China follow another. Cats have no CDC or APHIS rabies requirement and face a much simpler process. Your dog also needs screwworm certification whether it's coming from mainland China or Hong Kong.

Moving a dog from China to the US isn't a one-form process. China is a CDC high-risk country for dog rabies, and since the CDC's rule took effect August 1, 2024, the requirements split depending on where your dog received its rabies vaccination. Get the wrong track and you risk arriving at the wrong airport or missing a required document. Here's both paths, plus what cat owners need to know. For the full country-level breakdown of US entry requirements, see our US pet import requirements guide.

Applies to Every Dog

Regardless of which track you follow, every dog entering the US must be at least 6 months old at the time of entry, appear healthy on arrival, and have a microchip readable by a universal scanner. The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination. If the vaccine was given first, CDC considers that vaccination invalid, and your dog will need a new, valid rabies vaccination administered after the microchip is in place. That restarts the 30-day wait before a titer blood draw and adds time and cost, so check the sequence with your vet now rather than after the fact.

Dogs Vaccinated in the US

If your dog was originally vaccinated in the US before traveling to China, and you're now bringing them back, this is your track.

You'll need:

• CDC Dog Import Form receipt. Complete this online before travel. For a dog on the high-risk track, the arrival airport you select on the form must match your actual port of entry; airlines are required to confirm this before boarding, and CDC treats a mismatch as grounds for denied boarding or entry.
• Your dog needs a Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination form completed by a USDA-accredited veterinarian and endorsed by USDA before leaving the United States. An exception applies if you already have a qualifying USDA-endorsed export health certificate issued on or before July 31, 2025. CDC allows that certificate to be reused while the documented U.S. rabies vaccination remains valid. The certificate must be verifiable in USDA’s database and include your dog’s age, microchip number and current U.S. rabies vaccination information. The dog must have been at least six months old, and the microchip must have been implanted before the qualifying vaccination. Export health certificates issued after July 31, 2025 do not qualify for this exception. If your dog has already left the United States without either acceptable document, the Certification of U.S.-issued Rabies Vaccination cannot be issued retroactively. Your dog must instead meet CDC’s requirements for foreign-vaccinated dogs from high-risk countries.

Dogs on this track may enter at any US port of entry and do not need a CDC-registered Animal Care Facility reservation.

Dogs Vaccinated in China (Foreign-Vaccinated)

If your dog received its rabies vaccination in China, this track applies, and it has more steps.

You'll need:

• CDC Dog Import Form receipt.
• A Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, completed by an authorized veterinarian and reviewed and signed by an official government veterinarian in China.
• A rabies antibody titer test from a CDC-approved lab.
• Titer timing matters. The blood sample must be drawn at least 30 days after your dog's first rabies vaccination and at least 28 days before entry into the US. A sample drawn outside either window will not qualify.
• A reservation at a CDC-registered Animal Care Facility.
• A recent photo of your dog, uploaded with the CDC Dog Import Form. Dogs under one year old need a photo taken within 15 days of travel..

Foreign-vaccinated dogs that have been in a country classified by CDC as high risk for dog rabies during the previous six months must arrive by air at the U.S. airport associated with their reserved CDC-registered animal care facility. This requirement applies whether or not the dog has a qualifying rabies titer. Without a qualifying titer, the reservation must include a 28-day quarantine. The full list, current facility names, and booking details are on the CDC’s Animal Care Facilities page, which changes, so confirm current facilities before booking.

Cats

Moving a cat from China to the US is far simpler than moving a dog. There is no CDC or APHIS rabies requirement for cats. Cats can still be inspected at the port of entry and refused entry if they appear ill, but there's no titer, no vaccination form, and no facility reservation to arrange. If you're a cat owner reading through the dog requirements above and feeling overwhelmed, none of that applies to you.

Screwworm: Does It Apply to Your Pet?

Screwworm and rabies risk are assessed separately, and China's rabies high-risk status doesn't tell you anything about screwworm status.

Mainland China and Hong Kong are both on APHIS's current list of screwworm-affected regions. Your dog needs screwworm certification regardless of which part of China it's coming from. This can be a standalone document or included in the export health certificate, as long as it carries the required statement and signature. It must be signed by an official government veterinarian of the origin region, confirming the dog was inspected within 5 days before shipment and is either free of screwworm or was treated and cleared. If you're moving a dog to Hong Kong rather than transiting through it, the full Hong Kong import process applies instead.

Note that Hong Kong is excluded from CDC's high-risk classification for dog rabies, even though mainland China is not, and both mainland China and Hong Kong are treated the same way for screwworm purposes. A dog vaccinated in Hong Kong and traveling from there follows different rabies documentation than the mainland China tracks described above, but the same screwworm certification requirement applies either way. Talk to your coordinator about which rabies track applies if your pet's history involves Hong Kong at all.

How PetRelocation Can Help

Figuring out which track applies to your dog, and making sure the right form gets filed for that track, is where this process most often goes wrong. PetRelocation has coordinated moves from China for over 20 years and knows how to route each case correctly from the start.

Complete Support covers full coordination of your dog's CDC forms, titer testing or vaccination certification, facility reservations, and airport routing. Vet Paperwork Support focuses on the CDC form and vaccination documentation while you handle flight logistics. Consultation gives you direct access to a coordinator to confirm which track applies to your pet before you commit to a timeline.

Get a free quote from PetRelocation and a relocation manager will walk you through your options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it matter where my dog was vaccinated for rabies?
Yes. Dogs vaccinated in the US follow one set of requirements, and dogs vaccinated in China follow a different, more involved set. Getting the track wrong can mean arriving at the wrong airport or missing a required document.

What form do I need if my dog was vaccinated in China?
A Certification of Foreign Rabies Vaccination and Microchip form, completed by an authorized veterinarian and reviewed and signed by an official government veterinarian in China. Confirm with your vet that the form is filled out completely and typed, since handwritten or incomplete forms are not accepted.

Does my cat need a rabies titer to enter the US from China?
No. Cats have no CDC or APHIS rabies requirement. Cats can still be inspected and refused entry if they appear ill, but the titer, vaccination form, and facility reservation requirements only apply to dogs.

Does my dog need a screwworm certificate coming from China?
Yes. Both mainland China and Hong Kong are on APHIS's current screwworm-affected regions list. Your dog needs screwworm certification regardless of which part of China it's coming from. This can be a standalone document or included in the export health certificate, as long as it carries the required statement and signature, signed by an official government vet of the origin region, with inspection within 5 days before shipment.

Which airports can my China-vaccinated dog use?
One of the eight airports with a CDC-registered Animal Care Facility: Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle, or Washington Dulles. This applies regardless of your titer result; a valid titer changes what happens at the facility, not which airports are open to you.

What happens if my China-vaccinated dog doesn't have a valid titer?
Your dog will need to complete a 28-day quarantine at the CDC-registered Animal Care Facility on arrival.