EU pet travel rules for GB residents from 22 April 2026

If you are planning an EU trip with your dog, cat or ferret, the key point is simple: travel is still allowed, but the paperwork changed on Wednesday 22 April 2026. According to GOV.UK, the new EU rules cover the non-commercial movement of pets from Great Britain into the EU, which means ordinary travel such as holidays or visits rather than buying, selling or rehoming animals. That distinction matters because many people will read 'new rules' and worry that pet travel has been blocked. It has not. What changed is which document GB residents should rely on, and that is where people are most likely to get caught out at the border.

The biggest change is about the EU pet passport. GOV.UK says people whose main home is in Great Britain should no longer use an EU pet passport to travel into the EU. Under the new rules, EU pet passports may only be issued to people whose main home is in an EU country, so having a holiday home there, or spending part of the year there, is not enough. That also means older paperwork may not rescue you. Even an EU pet passport issued to a GB resident before 22 April 2026 may no longer count as a valid entry document for the EU. **What this means for you:** if you live in England, Wales or Scotland and are travelling to an EU country, the safer document is now an Animal Health Certificate.

There is an important twist, because the rule change is not the same in both directions. The government says there are no major changes to the requirements for re-entering Great Britain, and GB residents can still use EU pet passports for the return journey to GB. So you should think about the trip in two parts. Getting into the EU from Great Britain is where the new restriction bites hardest for GB residents. Coming back to Great Britain is less changed, which is why the same passport may be accepted on the way home even if it is not the document you should depend on for the outward journey.

Animal Health Certificates now give you a bit more breathing room once you are inside the EU, but they are still single-use documents. You still need a new AHC for each trip you start from Great Britain to the EU. Once you have arrived, though, that certificate can now be used for up to six months for onward travel within the EU and for returning to Great Britain, as long as your pet's rabies vaccination stays valid. In plain English, it is not a reusable passport for endless future trips, but it is more useful during the trip you are already taking.

The rules also cover cases where the owner is not the person physically travelling with the pet. If somebody else is accompanying your animal, the pet must travel within five days of you, and the person travelling with the animal must carry written permission from you. This is the kind of small-print detail that can easily be missed by families, friends or pet transport arrangements. The written permission needs to travel with the pet's travel document, so it is not something to sort out after you arrive at the port, airport or station.

Another change is about numbers. Non-commercial travel into the EU is now limited to a maximum of five pets per private vehicle, rather than five pets per person. If you are travelling on foot, the existing limit of five pets per person still stays in place. For most travellers this will not change much, but it could matter for large families, shared journeys or people moving several animals in one car or van. There are exceptions for pets going to competitions, events or training, although those only apply if the specific conditions are met.

One more thing is worth keeping in view: individual EU member states can still set their own specific entry requirements. GOV.UK and the Animal and Plant Health Agency both stress that pet owners should check the rules for their destination country before they travel, because the broad EU framework does not remove every national requirement. The government has updated its GOV.UK guidance on travelling to an EU country, pet passports, getting an Animal Health Certificate and bringing a pet to Great Britain. The APHA's message is reassuring but firm: holidays with pets are still possible, but you should check the latest guidance before you set off. If you want the shortest version of this whole update, it is this: from 22 April 2026, many GB residents heading to the EU with a pet should plan around an Animal Health Certificate, not an EU pet passport.