Bringing your dog or cat to Belgium from the USA in 2026

Last updated: September 6, 2026: verified against official sources.

Belgium applies the standard EU pet travel rules: and as the home of the EU institutions, its border staff see pet paperwork every day. The requirements are identical to France or Germany: microchip, rabies vaccination at least 21 days before travel, and a USDA-endorsed EU health certificate issued within 10 days of arrival. Get the dates right and entry is straightforward.

Paperwork is checked at check-in

Airlines verify the health certificate before boarding, so keep it in hand at the desk: rabies vaccination at least 21 days old, certificate issued within 10 days of travel.

Have it in hand

The 4 steps

• Microchip (ISO 11784/11785) first: Your pet must be microchipped BEFORE the rabies shot. A vaccination given before the chip does not count.
• Rabies vaccination ≥ 21 days before arrival: The vaccine must be given after the microchip and at least 21 days before entering the EU. It must stay valid on travel day.
• USDA-endorsed EU health certificate ≤ 10 days: A USDA-accredited vet issues the EU health certificate, then USDA APHIS endorses it. Valid 10 days from issue to arrival in the EU.
• Arrive via an approved EU point of entry: Belgium designates seven points of entry, one of them a railway station. The list is national.

Belgium lets you arrive by train, and restricts birds

Belgium designates seven points of entry for pets, and one of them is not an airport. Brussel-Zuid / Bruxelles-Midi is a railway station, the terminal for the international trains, and it is a designated point of entry. If you are bringing a pet into the EU on Eurostar or a similar service, that is where the check happens. Very few EU countries designate a station rather than an airport, so this is worth knowing before you assume a train arrival is impossible.

The other six are Brussels Airport, Antwerp International Airport, Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Liège Airport, Ostend-Bruges International Airport, and the Port of Zeebrugge.

Belgium publishes a separate list for pet birds, and it is much shorter. For dogs, cats and other pets there are seven options. For pet birds there are only two: Brussels Airport and Liège Airport. If you are travelling with a bird, most of the Belgian entry points are closed to you, and that is a national rule, not an airline one.

Belgium is also the country where the paperwork gets looked at earliest in practice: for a pet travelling as accompanied baggage, the airline and the check-in desk are the first point where the certificate and the dates are examined, before any border vet sees them.

Official sources

• AFSCA / FAVV (Belgium), designated points of entry for pets: favv-afsca.be, points of entry (PDF)
• European Commission: food.ec.europa.eu/animals/movement-pets_en
• USDA APHIS: aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel
• Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet): mattilsynet.no