French EU pet passport

[Sof2023]

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Hello,
I am planning to travel to France with my dog and I am planning to get him a French passport over there as it is more practical and cheaper than the health certificate.

I know that British nationals have been able to get a French EU pet passport in the past (after Brexit). However, it looks that things became more complicated last year. The rules are the following:

"Le vétérinaire ne peut délivrer un passeport Français à un animal titulaire d'un passeport UK/UE délivré avant le 1er janvier 2021 qu'après avoir vérifié si le numéro d'identification de l'animal a bien été enregistré dans le fichier national d'identification des carnivores domestiques (I-CAD) et qu’une carte d'identification a bien été délivrée.

Dans le cas contraire, le vétérinaire peut procéder à l'enregistrement de l'animal dans le fichier national d'identification ICAD, si le séjour de l'animal en France est supérieur à 3 mois consécutifs, conformément à l'article 22 de l'AM du 1er août 2012 relatif à l'identification des carnivores domestiques."

To summarize, it means that I can only register my dog in the French registry and then get a passport if my dog stays more than 3 months in France. Is there a way around it? What would prevent someone to say that his/her dog would stay more than 3 months in France even if it is not the case?

 

[JoanneF]

It's a complex situation, but to get a passport in France, essentially yes your dog should be registered on the ICAD database. Registration is compulsory for animals remaining there for three months or more, you can in theory apply for voluntary registration if staying for under three months; but some vets are still a bit reluctant to issue a passport even then. If you have a French address that's something to consider though.

However there are far simpler ways round it. For example, Belgium and Spain don't have the requirement to have the dog registered on a chip database so a quick trip across the border would get you sorted out. Where in France are you arriving? I may be able to recommend a vet in Belgium.

 

[Sof2023]

Thank you very much for the information JoanneF!
I will try to get the passport with a French vet for this time and hopefully it will work. I also have to keep in mind to see a French vet between 1 and 5 days before the UK return to get a worming treatment.

 

[dadge]

hi, just wondering if you got the passport, currently in the same situation, a vet has given me a passport and a form for I-cad which they have signed, they told me to send that form off to icad and that’s all. Is this right?

 

[JoanneF]

You are lucky, a lot of vets won't issue the passport unless the iCad registration is completed.

As long as the rabies vaccination date in the passport isn't earlier than the passport issued date, you should be fine. If the rabies is recorded as the same date or later than the passport issue date, you need to wait 21 days for the rabies to be fully effective, then you are good to go. If you can't wait 21 days, you can travel back using the AHC that you came out with.

 

[dadge]

We got the passport in December 23, and our vet in uk wouldn’t put the rabies vaccine on the passport, so we came to France this summer and got the rabies vaccination by a French vet who put the details in the passport. We’ve not used the passport yet as the rabies date on the passport is 16/8/24.

So do I still send off the icad or do I leave it?

 

[JoanneF]

I've more experience and knowledge of passports than of icad. My understanding of it is that it isn't necessary to register your pet on the database if you are not resident in France. However if you have an address there, and your dog were to be lost, it makes a lot of sense to do it.

If you don't want to, then the only times going forward that you will be letting a vet see the passport will be for the worming before returning to the UK, or future rabies boosters - I've never heard anyone say they would also want proof of registration for these procedures, maybe you could ask the vet?

 

[dadge]

Not got an address in France, so might leave that part out. I’m back in France at Christmas so will try the passport to see if it works, might get a AHC as back up for the first time using passport, just incase. Thanks for your help

 

[JoanneF]

You would need a French address to register on icad. My dog's passport is Spanish so I've never been asked for any additional paperwork.

 

[dadge]

I read earlier about Spanish passport, so do you live in uk and they just gave you a passport while over there? Next years summer trip for us is Santander to Barcelona

 

[JoanneF]

Yes, I'm in the UK and just travel regularly. But in Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg there are no additional requirements like having an address. It's my UK address that's on the passport.

I've done the trip from here to Santander, getting a pet cabin can be a challenge but we were lucky.

 

[dadge]

Thank you

 

[Sof2023]

If I recall correctly, the French passport is not valid until the icad registration is completed. That's what the vet explained me when she gave me the passport. And it takes a bit of time because the icad payment can only be done by cheque.

 

[dadge]

Yeah the vet said about cheque payment only. Did you do the icad? Also did you put your uk address on the icad form?

 

[JoanneF]

the French passport is not valid until the icad registration is completed. That's what the vet explained me

The thing is, I'm not sure anyone ever would cross-check after the passport has been issued - most vets aren't actually issuing the passport until icad registration is complete. It's the fact that the passport has already been issued that's confusing here.

Also did you put your uk address on the icad form?

I'm sure you can't, it needs to be a French address.