Taking Your Dog or Cat to Norway from the UK

Norway bans six dog breeds and crosses of them, and in practice it does not let in street dogs or street cats unless you have lived with the animal for six months. Mattilsynet’s pages set out both rules. Check them before you book anything, because they settle whether the animal can come at all.

Mattilsynet’s page on banned dogs (opens in a new window) names the Pit Bull Terrier, the American Staffordshire Terrier (AmStaff), the Fila Brasileiro, the Tosa Inu, the Dogo Argentino and the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog, and says wolf-dog hybrids are also considered dangerous. The page says it is also illegal to breed or import these dogs. If someone suspects a dog is a banned type, the police and customs can require the owner to document its breed or type. The page adds: “If there is doubt about the breed, the police can have the dog killed or require that the dog be sent out of the country.”

The Norwegian version, Forbudte hunder og hunderaser (opens in a new window), was reviewed on 10 November 2023 and lists the same six. It adds that breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels is banned in Norway, while owning one and bringing one with you stays allowed. The English page does not carry that sentence. Questions about a particular dog go to the police or to Politidirektoratet, the National Police Directorate.

Mattilsynet’s page on stray animals (opens in a new window) says: “In practice, it is not possible to bring street dogs and street cats to Norway.” The exception is an animal you have lived with for six months, and you must be ready to show it has been in your ownership and under your control for at least that long. The page says a pedigree or working dog bought from a kennel is not affected if you can document it. Tolletaten sets the same six months for a rehomed animal, covered in our guide to customs for household goods moving to Norway.

The English page lists dogs from shelters, ownerless dogs and dogs of unknown background as strays. The Nynorsk version, Import av gatehund og gatekatt (opens in a new window), covers cats as well and names animals rehomed through foster homes.

The microchip comes first, then the rabies vaccination, then a wait. Mattilsynet says the animal must be identified before it is vaccinated and must be at least 12 weeks old on the day. The vaccination counts as valid only after the wait. The chip must follow the ISO 11784 standard and use HDX or FDX-B technology.

Mattilsynet words the wait two ways. Its English page and English guide (opens in a new window) say: “The period of validity starts not less than 21 days from the completion of the vaccination protocol required by the manufacturer for a primary vaccination.” The Norwegian guide (opens in a new window) says that when the animal is vaccinated for the first time you wait 21 dager, 21 days, before the vaccination is valid. Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013, as Lovdata prints it for information, counts the 21 days from the completion of the protocol the manufacturer requires for a primary vaccination, which is the English wording. Ask your vet when that protocol ends for the vaccine used.

A revaccination given while the previous one is still valid has no wait. One given after the previous one has expired counts as a primary vaccination, and the 21 days start again. The vaccine must be of an approved type and given by an authorised vet. The Norwegian guide lists identification before the vaccination among the conditions for a valid rabies vaccination, and Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013, as Lovdata prints it for information, says the vaccination date cannot be earlier than the date the chip was implanted or read. So a vaccination given before the chip does not meet those conditions; ask your vet to check the dates.

A tattoo is accepted as identification only if it was done before 3 July 2011. If the chip does not meet the standard, you must bring a reader that can read it.

No. Mattilsynet’s English page says a valid rabies antibody test is not required for animals from territories listed in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 577/2013, and that annex lists the United Kingdom. Mattilsynet’s guide agrees: asked about England, Scotland or Wales, it shows no blood-test step. The annex’s footnote leaves out Northern Ireland.

The English page does not name Great Britain in that sentence, and it was published on 6 December 2023, so we read the annex itself. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/1130 (opens in a new window), published on 26 April 2024, replaces Part 2 of Annex II from 16 September 2024. Part 2 is the list of countries that benefit from the derogation from the blood test. It includes the United Kingdom, with a footnote saying references to the United Kingdom there do not include Northern Ireland.

Norway’s pet regulation, kjæledyrforskriften on Lovdata (opens in a new window), applies Regulation 577/2013 as amended up to 2024/1130 in its § 3. The Norwegian text of the annex printed beside it lists Det forente kongerike, the United Kingdom, with the same footnote. Lovdata marks that printed text as information, not part of the regulation. Lovdata lists five amending regulations since 2013, so check the list again when you book the vet.

A pet that passes through a country not on the list keeps the exemption only with a declaration. The English page asks for a signed statement that the animal had no contact with animals susceptible to rabies during the transit and stayed secured in a means of transport or inside an international airport. Mattilsynet offers a model form. For a pet from an unlisted country the page requires a blood sample taken at least 30 days after vaccination and at least three months before entering Norway.

Mattilsynet’s English page says the main rule is an animal health certificate in the Annex IV model of Regulation (EU) No 577/2013, and a pet passport issued in Great Britain is not among the alternatives it lists. The Norwegian guide adds that a vet acting for the authorities of the issuing country must sign or confirm the certificate, and that the pet must enter the EU or EEA within 10 days of the day it is issued.

For a dog the certificate gives the owner’s name, the microchip number, the rabies vaccination and the tapeworm treatment; for a cat or ferret, the first three. It must come with documents that back it up, such as a vaccination book, and those must show the microchip number too. It is stamped and signed when the pet first enters the EU or EEA. For a dog the guide says the vet is publicly employed or does the work for the authorities; for a cat or ferret it says an official vet, not one working at a clinic.

Two timing points in the Norwegian guide: for a dog, the time a sea crossing takes is added to the 10 days, and the certificate, once stamped and signed on entry, stays valid for travel between EU and EEA countries for four months from the entry date.

On the British side, GOV.UK’s page on travelling to a non-EU country (opens in a new window) says you need an export health certificate and, in England, Scotland and Wales, an export application form. You name an official vet, who is sent the certificate and checks the pet’s health and identification before you travel. GOV.UK’s guidance on export health certificates (opens in a new window) describes an official vet as someone authorised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency to do work the law requires. Neither page names Norway or says whether that certificate is the Annex IV one, so ask your official vet which document Norway will accept.

A pet passport can replace the certificate only if an authorised vet in Norway or another EU or EEA country issued it, and only for an animal whose rabies vaccination an authorised vet in the EU or EEA recorded.

A vet must treat a dog for tapeworm between 24 and 120 hours before it enters Norway, which is no less than a day and no more than five days. Mattilsynet says cats and ferrets need no treatment. GOV.UK’s tapeworm page (opens in a new window) also lists Norway among the countries where a vet must treat a dog leaving Great Britain and record it in the pet travel document.

GOV.UK says the treatment must contain praziquantel or an equivalent proven against the Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm, and be approved for use in the country where it is given. Mattilsynet’s page on the treatment (opens in a new window) is stricter on the product: it says the medicine contains praziquantel or epsiprantel, that other tapeworm medicines will not kill the parasite and cannot be used, and that a single active ingredient is recommended over a combination. It also says owners may not treat the dog themselves and asks for the treatment as close to the 24-hour limit as possible, because that makes re-infection less likely.

Who certifies it differs by version. The English page and English guide say an official vet certifies the treatment in the health certificate. The Norwegian guide says an authorised vet in the country the dog travels from carries it out and records it in the certificate. GOV.UK asks the vet to record the product name and manufacturer, the date and time of treatment, and a stamp and signature, so ask for the time as well as the date.

None of the Mattilsynet pages we read says what happens at the border if the timing is missed. Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 576/2013, as Lovdata prints it for information, says that when a check finds a pet does not meet the conditions, the authority decides, after consulting the official vet and where appropriate the owner, whether to send it back, keep it isolated under official control until it does, or, as a last resort, put it down, at the owner’s cost. The English page and the Norwegian guide both count the window back from entering Norway, so plan it from your arrival time, not from the day you leave.

Only in the cases Mattilsynet allows. Its guide says the main rule is that you travel with the pet yourself; otherwise the import counts as commercial. A pet’s movement still counts as non-commercial if your need to move causes it, it is not meant to be sold or passed on, it takes place up to five days before or after yours, and a person you authorise in writing is responsible for it, with the authorisation travelling with the pet.

On request you must be able to show that the pet’s movement is part of your own, with hotel reservations or invoices, boarding passes, or flight or train tickets, for example. Mattilsynet offers a model authorisation form to download. One non-commercial movement is limited to five dogs, cats or ferrets, unless the trip is for a competition, show, sporting event or related training, with written evidence, and the animals are over six months old.

If you do not travel with the pet and the authorisation does not fit, the guide says the rules for commercial import apply, which this page does not cover. Mattilsynet does not say in so many words what happens to a pet that arrives more than five days apart from you, so ask Mattilsynet before you fix dates.

The pet’s dates follow the vaccination wait and the 10-day certificate, not the removal. Our international moving checklist puts the pet steps in date order beside everything else.

Not if the conditions are met. Tolletaten says that when you have lived abroad for at least one year and the animal has been yours, your pet comes in with your household goods free of customs duty and VAT. A pet that belongs to a business moving to Norway is excluded. The pet must be listed on the household goods declaration, and you enter through the red zone and report to customs on arrival.

Tolletaten’s pet page (opens in a new window) says an import declaration must be created at the border. If you transport the pet yourself, Tolletaten prepares it. Tolletaten’s words: “If the pet is being transported by a courier or shipping company, they will handle the declaration.” It names no part for a removal company. The Norwegian page, Flytte med dyr til Norge (opens in a new window), is marked updated 4 June 2026 and the English page 27 November 2025. We compared them and found the same rules.

The duty relief does not replace the health rules, which Tolletaten says must be met under Mattilsynet’s regulations, and the pet’s documents are shown with the household goods declaration. Tolletaten also warns that some dog breeds and endangered species are banned, and that importing some reptiles needs a permit from the Norwegian Environment Agency. Who files the declaration for the household goods themselves is covered in our customs guide, which compares Tolletaten’s English and Norwegian pages.

Mattilsynet’s news item (opens in a new window), reviewed on 23 April 2026, says the EU’s new rules on moving pets apply from 22 April 2026, but that they have no consequences for travel to Norway yet. The animal health requirements for private trips to Norway are unchanged, and it says Inntil videre er det dagens regler som gjelder, until further notice today’s rules apply.

The item adds that it is being considered whether the EU rules will be added to the EEA Agreement, and that they are expected in Norway from autumn 2026 at the earliest. It says Norwegian authorities are preparing a new regulation and expects it to go out for consultation before the summer. That has since happened: Mattilsynet’s consultation (opens in a new window), published on 2 October 2026 with a deadline of 23 October 2026 (now closed), proposes a new pet regulation to bring in the revised EU rules. We found no notice that the new rules apply in Norway yet.

The English third-country page shows only its publication date, 6 December 2023. The Norwegian guide carries no date. The English page also says the owner should contact Mattilsynet before the trip to check whether any safeguard measures apply to the country of dispatch. Read the guide again on the day you book each vet appointment.