You Asked For It - Bring Pets to Mexico
We had a couple of questions this month about bringing pets to Mexico
1. I have two dogs and six goats...would I be able to bring them to Mexico.
- Barbie, Nevada
2. I was reading in the Insider's Guide to Lake Chapala about being legally only to bring one pet across - I'm guessing it only applies on tourist visa? I'm now a 3 cat household. Will I need to get the vet papers in someone else's name? Would they need to travel with me, or could I put them in the name of current Mexico residents? Would I have to wait till I had my FM2 or fm3? How long does that take??
- Maureen, St. Louis, MO
A: You can bring your pets in on your FMT as long as you have all your paperwork. Please read our friend's story about bringing their pets in from an earlier newsletter: October 6, 2006 Newsletter: Bringing Pets to Mexico.
It should clear up some questions.
There are no real restrictions for bringing dogs or cats into Mexico. All one needs to bring their pet into Mexico is a bit of paperwork:
1. A vaccination certificate stating that your pet has been vaccinated against rabies, hepatitis, pip and leptospirosis.
2. An official health certificate that must be issued by a veterinarian no more than 72 hours before entering Mexico stating that the animal has no communicable diseases.
Any veterinarian should be able to provide this for you. Our veterinarian in Kansas City had all the proper paperwork to fill out...we didn't have to take any special forms with us.
No permit or visa is needed. And, thank goodness, no quarantine! That would have definitely been a deal-breaker for us.
And, if you're going to be a part-timer, all you need to take your family friends back into the United States is another health certificate and a rabies certificate not more than thirty days old.
You'll be happy to know there is a wide choice of veterinarians in Mexico and definitely at Lakeside, and, believe it or not, they do make house calls!
GOATS
Now on to the tricky part of one of the questions...Goats!
The best place to start your search is at the APHIS site. To go directly to the animal travel page, the address is http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/exp-pets.html...a page entitled "Taking Your Pet Animal to a Foreign Country."
On that page, select the link entitled "Animal Export Regulations." The next page will allow you to search by country of destination. Once you select " Mexico," you need to scroll down, find and select the file for the type of animal you wish to bring to Mexico.
Yikes! Not the information you need, I'm sure!
That being said, however, we understand some information contained on the APHIS site regarding completion of the health certificate, etc., is in error and a phone call to the Federal Veterinarian at the border can be exceedingly valuable in identifying the errors and outdated information. It really is necessary to contact the border vet to obtain the most current and up-to-date information.
To get the contact information for the USDA border vets, go to http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/portlist.html. You will find a list of Mexican Border Ports. Select your port of entry and it will give you all the information you need to contact the correct veterinarian.
The articles we published in the newsletters on the Web site that might be of help to you are:
October 6, 2006 Newsletter: Bringing Pets to Mexico
July 2007 Newsletter: Bringing a horse into Mexico, Part 1
August 2007 Newsletter: Bringing a horse into Mexico, Part 2
This is the basic information you would need to bring your pets to Mexico. There is a myriad of additional information that is of extreme importance when bringing yourselves into Mexico. We highly recommend joining us for a Focus on Mexico program to get ALL the information and the experience to make your transition to living here 'a piece of cake'. For instance you'll learn how to bring your goods in without any taxes and what you do to do in advance in order to ensure you aren't hit with import duty. You'll learn about bringing your vehicles in or is it better to buy a Mexican plated vehicle. You'll learn about the Health Care system, the good and bad, the do's and don'ts. You'll learn how to purchase property and what you absolutely MUST do in order to avoid having to pay capital gains of up to 29% when you sell. Our program pays for itself Time and Again, with all the valuable information and contacts you will make.
Our programs are for 8 days. Imagine the amount of information and experience you will learn in this time frame. Although our website is full of valuable information, there is no substitution to hearing from the Experts and getting everything first hand, including being able to ask your own questions.