Please feel free to view our Forum, but you must either LOGIN or REGISTER to join in the conversation.
Hey guys,
Beth and I (mother daughter team) are going to be traveling to Portugal on the Job Seeker's visa. Likely around the first of the year. We've been working with Cristina at EI! We did not earn enough as teachers to qualify for the Digital Nomad visa so this is our next option. We are bringing our pets (two cats and a dog) and I think I have a good handle on the process but I would feel much better hearing from those who have experienced this:
a) Do you know a good certified vet in the Virginia, D.C. area? Is the time frame 10 days before arrival and how does the APHIS work versus a wet signature)
2) Which is the best airline from flying from the US that is a fair(cheap) price that is good for pet travel.
3) I've read differing information on which airport we need to fly into with pets. Only Lisbon? Or any of the international airports:Lisbon, Porto or Faro. Does anyone know?
4) Is there a post that covers all of this in detail that I can be pointed to?
I know this is a lot. Thank you anyone who answers.
Rochelle (calilibrarian)
Hi Rochelle,
Check out these posts:
moving-pets-from-the-us-to-portugal
has-anyone-traveled-with-their-pet-lately
@jonesdn2020 Thank you this is so helpful. I appreciate everyone's experience, it really helps with moving jitters.
Thanks again for sharing the links.
Rochelle and Beth
Hi Rochelle, our experience was out of SFO, California on TAP to Lisbon. We had our two cats in the flight with us. We got lucky and our vet was USDA certified. There is a 10 day window before flying out that you need to get the docs from the USDA (our vet sent the request to the USDA via email and the wet signature docs were Fed Ex'd to us). We emailed with the vet in Lisbon several times to confirm we had all the docs they required and to give them our flight info so there would be a vet at the airport at the time we landed.
My understanding is that it's 1 human, 1 pet in the flight and there are weight requirements for inflight pets. Additional or oversized pets have to go under the plane. And I think TAP said they only allow 4 animals per flight.
If you are on Facebook, check out American & FriendsPT. They have a great Files section and there is one on traveling with pets.
@konni Hi Konni! It was nice seeing on at the online social, thank you for hosting it. Okay that makes sense, the only question is how did you know what vet to call and what day of the week is the best to arrive on. Does the vet come to the airport on Saturdays or Sundays?
Thanks again!
Rochelle and Beth
@rochelleandbeth hi! Glad you were at the Social. Always a good time to connect and learn things.
We booked our flight and it was the best flight that worked for us. Then, a week or so before we landed, we let the Lisbon airport vet know when we were arriving. You can probably find their hours here: https://www.aeroportolisboa.pt/en/lis/passenger-guide/what-you-need-to-know/travelling-with-pets I think they start working at 6am, if memory serves.
I would think they would work weekends or at least have an vet on-call for those flights coming in. We did not call but emailed a week or so before our flight to alert them about our flight and confirm we had all the correct papers and then a day or so before our flight to re-confirm our flight info.
from this site on www.dgav.pt/ -- https://tinyurl.com/bdfs6drm
for Lisbon - 351 919 551 607 and pcflisboaa@dgav.pt
for Porto - 351 916 181 917 and pcfportoa@dgav.pt
for Faro - 351 289 870 700 and pets.entrypoint.fao@@dgav.pt
or this site: https://tinyurl.com/yc3775tt
(in case you aren't aware, when you get to the security at the airport, you will need to remove your animal from their carrier. The carrier then goes through the xray machine while you hold your animal. While Hank was holding one cat, they wanted to also wand him and I was suddenly holding both cats! OH my. NOTE, you can ask for a private room if you are afraid your animal may bolt! :-])
Hope this helps. Continue to ask questions as you go through the process...it's a bit stressful but if you do things in the right order and have all the papers, it should work out okay.
@konni Thanks I'll use this information. We're really grateful for this info. I had read that your pet must stay in the carrier until the pet assessment at the airport. We are planning on putting harnesses on our cats if that is the case. Thanks once again for info we needed. by the way, we are still waiting to see if the Job Seeker's visa will be put on the Consular website but we still don't see it as of today. Cristina from EI said to wait a week which was more than a week ago and we are still in limbo.
Thanks Konni!
Rochelle and Beth
Hi Rochelle!
We moved in March from Alexandria, and flew into Porto via Munich. Our vet (Indian Head Animal Hospital in Fort Washington, MD) was also a military vet, and knew about the USDA process etc. So we got the forms filled within the 10-day period, and called the office in Richmond, VA to get an appointment (about a 3-hr roundtrip) so we could avoid the risk/stress of shipping docs, they gave the certified docs back to us the same afternoon (we can suggest lunch places around their office 😉) and we were done. On arrival in Porto, the customs folks saw our dog, and sent us to the airport vet who was missing, but we called the number on the office door and got hold of her immediately - she said no problem, if you have all the paperwork, especially the rabies shot, just tell the customs people I told you its ok. Went back to customs, they asked where we came from, we said US via Munich, they said you came from Germany? Did you clear immigration in Germany (we did), and decided that was enough for them, so they waved us out.
Only one data point, but we had seen this in Germany before - the EU really only cares about up to date rabies, nothing else, unless you're coming from a few countries that have poor reputations for animal health. Nobody has ever checked the USDA papers.
Contact me directly if you need more detail.
Amit
PS We flew on Lufthansa, and they allow dogs upto 8kg in the cabin, in a soft carrier that fits under the seat. Dimensions are here - https://www.lufthansa.com/pe/en/animals-as-additional-carry-on-baggage
@zoom Hi Amit. Wow great information especially as you lived in our neck of the woods. We are going to book a vet appt. with Indian Head Animal Hospital. Is it usual to travel through Germany? What day of the week did you arrive? I worry that if we arrive on Saturday or Sunday there will not be a vet there. I'm trying to avoid issues I could have foreseen. It was nice to meet you at the social on Saturday.
Thanks again for all of this information, I really appreciate how detailed it is. We need this!
Thanks,
Rochelle and Beth
@rochelleandbeth I would recommend you check with the Indian Head folks about the USDA cert when you book an appointment - the vet who did our paperwork may or may not be working there, but hopefully someone will know what's required. The paperwork didn't seem complicated. You can also send them the paperwork by email and get them to verify that they can do it - they will have to see the animals, of course, but at least you won't make the trip in vain. Also, I found a vet in Richmond that does house calls https://capitalhomevetcare.com/pet-health-certificates/ for the paperwork - you may be able to combine the vet visit for the paperwork and the certification appointment to reduce the driving and elapsed time (since there is a 10-day window).
Lufthansa and its subsidiaries have pretty dog-friendly policies, unlike United and other US airlines, so we use them whenever we can - they allow pets in all cabins. There aren't a lot of direct flights to Portugal, but TAP flies direct, and also allows in-cabin pets. We arrived on a Tuesday (cheapest day to fly, by the way), and the vet wasn't available. The Portuguese are very dog-friendly also, so I don't think you'll have much trouble even if the vet isn't there. One advantage to flying through Germany was that we had no immigration to deal with in Portugal, so we were through to the curb in about 25 minutes from the time we landed. Porto baggage claim was faster then Lisbon (fewer flights).
Overall, I'd say pets shouldn't add to your stress level in your moving plans - Europe is very pet-friendly, both its policies and the people.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Could I get some clarification on this.
"So we got the forms filled within the 10-day period, and called the office in Richmond, VA to get an appointment (about a 3-hr roundtrip) so we could avoid the risk/stress of shipping docs, they gave the certified docs back to us the same afternoon (we can suggest lunch places around their office 😉) and we were done."
Okay our question is this: When you say the office in Richmond, VA , who did you mean? The USDA office? We are going to do the same, it sounds much faster and less stressful. The pet ownership worksheet for preparing visit with accredited to complete health certificate says "Please note that preparing for travel to some countries can take several months." Should we be worried about this?
Thanks!
Rochelle and Beth
