PETS: Residency in other countries
Residential requirements
If you plan to stay with your pet in a country other than the UK for more than a few weeks, we strongly recommend that you check with the authorities of the country concerned whether there any residency requirements for pet animals.
For example, in France dogs and cats become resident after 3 months continuous residence. We understand that the French authorities require any dog or cat resident in France for more than 3 months to be officially identified and registered on a national database (previous legislation had a similar requirement but did not state when an animal would be considered resident). Dogs and cats can be identified either by a tattoo or microchip.
However, it appears that non-ISO Standard microchips will not be recognised by the French authorities, and that for resident animals French vets will have to replace them with microchips meeting an ISO Standard. This is a requirement of the authorities in France, but it may affect your pet's eligibility for the Pet Travel Scheme. If you think this requirement may affect your pet, we suggest you discuss it with a French vet in advance, and certainly before travelling to France.
You should also be aware that French legislation requires resident pets to be given an annual vaccination against rabies. This also applies in some other countries. Pets now become resident after spending 3 months in France.
Details of French vets can be obtained from French
vets
Page last modified: November 13, 2006