Moving to Chile with pets

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Moving to Chile soon? Read this...

Since 2016, expat.cl has been maintaining this free online guide about Chile for foreigners, which takes a lot of time. Unfortunately, search engines now use this content to provide AI-generated answers. Therefore, our most up-to-date content is now only available in the Chile Handbook for Foreigners. Articles on this guide will still be updated, but less frequently.

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Which animals are considered as pets?

Any animal that cannot be at the origin of consumable or usable-by-man products (milk, eggs, skin, fur...) is considered a pet. Cats, dogs, and certain types of birds and reptiles are mainly concerned.

What is the procedure for coming to Chile with your pet?

Do you own a pet and want it to move to Chile with you? We describe in detail below the documents to present at the Chilean border control so that your dog or cat is accepted in Chile:

• An official foreign health certificate in the language of the country and in Spanish, issued by an official veterinarian, that is to say a private practice veterinarian who can sign a document on behalf of the government to export an animal. If your animal comes from Europe, the "European passport" (European version of the health booklet for pets) is sufficient and acts as a health certificate.
• Clinical examination carried out within ten days before entry to Chile, indicating that the animal is free of communicable and parasitic diseases.
• Rabies protection: anti-rabies vaccination done more than 30 days but less than one year before the animal enters Chile OR rabies anti-body titration higher than or equal to 0.5 IU/mL, done within 12 months before the entry of the animal into the country (method used for puppies and kittens younger than 60 days).
• Internal and external pest control, indicating both the active ingredient and the effective date, and carried out within 30 days before the trip.

For air transport, check in advance that the airline accepts pets and that if in case of a stopover, the animal will be directly transferred to the other flight. For this, try to book all flights on the site of the same airline, which will thus be required to take care of all connections. Some sites may offer more attractive rates, but by booking each flight separately. Yet, in case of problems, the different companies will blame each other ...

Make sure you also check the travel arrangements (payment of customs tariffs, sanitary inspection ...). For dogs and cats, there is no quarantine once they arrive in Chile, but there is one for birds.

Pets other than dogs and cats must meet other requirements, especially for birds and ferrets.

For other animals, you must provide to Chilean border control a health certificate in the language of origin and in Spanish, issued by the official health authority of the country of origin. This certificate depends on the sanitary agreement (sanitary conditions required for entry into Chile) established between the country of origin and Chile.

You can ask the sanitary agreement to the head of the División de Protección Pecuaria of the SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero). We suggest you ask for it at least two months before your arrival in Chile. You can find more information on the SAG website.

What is the procedure for leaving Chile with your pet?

Do you want to leave Chile with your pet?

To leave Chile with your pet, you must obtain an export health certificate (Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación, CZE) issued by the SAG, which certifies that the animal meets the entry requirements requested by the country of destination. You can find the documents to provide and the conditions specific to each country here.

You can ask the CZE in any office of the SAG, presenting a health certificate and a proof of anti-rabies vaccination, and it will be issued within 24 to 48 hours. Since 13/02/2019, to obtain this certificate, your pet must be registered or in registration process in the Chilean National Pet Registry. The SAG will verify that your animal is registered by one of the following means:

• Verification of the animal identification number available here.
• Proof of registration or application for registration in the National Pet Register.

If you are returning to a European Union country with your pet, you should know that you do not need a CZE, if your pet was previously in Europe. When leaving Chile, you just need to present your pet's European passport. Chile is one of the countries exempt from rabies anti-body titration to import an animal into the EU.

Be aware that the CZE is valid for 21 days starting from the date of issue. If you leave Chile for less than 21 days with your pet, the CZE alone will allow it to return to the country. On the other hand, if you leave the country for more than 21 days, you must obtain a new health certificate issued by the official health authority of the country in which you go to come back to Chile with your pet.

Do you want to go more in detail?

I wrote the Chile Handbook for Foreigners for anyone and everyone looking to move permanently and enjoy life in Chile. It's a 265-page book that goes over all aspects of relocating to Chile. Here is what you get:
✅ Practical tips based on 7-year relocation experience
✅ To-do lists to help you start
✅ Last updated in 2024

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