Tag: Travel

Travelling with Pets from Switzerland to the United Kingdom via transit through Europe

Once in a while, our cat travels with us to Loch Watenan. And in this article, I summarise what paper-work is needed to get the cat in one piece to the UK and back to Switzerland.

And our cat is 10+ years old. For young cats and other pets different rules apply.

We have two main travel routes:

  1. CH – (entering via car) DE – NL – (via ferry) UK
    UK – (entering via ferry) NL – DE – CH
  2. CH – FR – (entering via train/tunnel) UK
    UK – (entering via train/tunnel) FR – CH

First, for entering the EU from Switzerland (a non-EU country) we need

  1. a Swiss Pet Passport (which is equivalent to the EU Pet Passport);
  2. a microchip;
  3. vaccination against rabies (after you got the chip, not older than 3 years);
  4. a recent letter from a Swiss vet stating the overall health of the cat (not older than 10 days);
  5. a written declaration completed by the owner or an authorised person, stating the pet is not for import (never had this checked);
  6. no tapeworm treatment is needed for cats.

For entering the Netherlands from Germany no additional documents are needed. This might change if you are not in transit but stay longer in Germany. I do not know.

At the ferry in Amsterdam, you need to show the documents and supporting material for entering the United Kingdom:

  1. the Swiss Pet Passport;
  2. read the microchip and have it compared to the number in the passport;
  3. the letter from the CH vet.

From there we can freely transit through England into Scotland and from there into the Highlands. For most of the time, without any additional border controls.

But on the way back to Switzerland, things are a little bit different.

The EU does not accept the Swiss Pet Passwort when entering from the United Kingdom (except for Northern Ireland). And as we cannot get a EU Pet Passport we need a recent (not older than 3 months) EU health certificate, demonstrationg the overall health of the cat and the ability of the vet to tackle a very complicated online form:

  1. a European Health Certificate;
  2. a microchip;
  3. vaccination against rabies (after you got the chip, not older than 3 years);
  4. a recent letter from a UK official or authorised vet stating the overall health of the cat (not older than 10 days);
  5. a written declaration completed by the owner or an authorised person, stating the pet is not for import (never had this checked);
  6. no tapeworm treatment is needed for cats.

As upon entry to UK this will be checked before entering the ferry. In addition, the paperwork is examined after leaving the ferry in Amsterdam.

Here is a link to the official reading of the EU: Non-commercial movement from non-EU countries.

Transit through Germany does not seem to have any additional requirements,. And for entry into Switzerland we can again use our Swiss Pet Passport (but this has never been checked when I entered).

Hope this helps.