Bringing a dog or cat from Australia to New Zealand: steps and timeline

Rules change — check MPI before you book. Everything here is taken from MPI's Import Health Standard: Cats and Dogs (the 2026 version, in force from 1 July 2026) and links back to it. Check MPI's current step-by-step guide before you book anything.

Australia is a Category 1 country in MPI's rules, which is the simplest way into New Zealand for a cat or dog. Fly in direct, meet the requirements, and your pet can be cleared at the airport — no import permit, and no stay in quarantine. Simplest isn't the same as quick, though. Most of the tests and treatments have to happen inside set windows in the last few weeks before the flight.

We moved our own dog from Perth to Papamoa this way. Read our first-hand account of moving our dog from Perth to NZ with Petraveller for how it actually went, including what we'd do differently. This page sets out the official steps.

Is your pet eligible?

Under the Import Health Standard:

• Direct from a Category 1 country. A cat or dog from Australia must be imported directly from a Category 1 country. Norfolk Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are in Category 1 too.
• Microchipped. Your pet must be permanently and uniquely identified with a microchip. MPI recommends chips that meet ISO 11784 or Annex A of ISO 11785, which are also the chips required for dog registration in NZ. MPI may not have a reader for a non-ISO chip.
• Old enough. MPI's guidance gives about 8 weeks old on the date of shipment as the approximate minimum for Category 1.
• Not too far into a pregnancy. A cat or dog must not be more than 42 days pregnant on the date of shipment.
• Not a prohibited breed. The Dog Control Act 1996 bans importing the Brazilian Fila, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa, Perro de Presa Canario, and the American Pit Bull Terrier type.
• Hybrids. Bengal cats are eligible. Other hybrid cats and dogs are likely to need approval from the Environmental Protection Authority first.

Do you need an import permit or quarantine?

For a compliant cat or dog arriving by air from Australia, no to both. An MPI official vet inspects your pet and checks the paperwork on arrival, and a compliant animal is cleared at the border.

Quarantine can still happen:

• Arriving by sea needs an import permit, and your pet goes to a transitional (quarantine) facility until it's inspected on the next available working day.
• If the arrival inspection can't be done for any reason, your pet goes to a transitional facility and is inspected on the next working day.
• If fleas or ticks are found on arrival, every animal in the consignment is kept in a transitional facility for more treatment. Dogs with ticks also get extra Babesia testing. MPI's guidance says this extends the stay and adds significantly to the cost.

The steps, working back from your flight

Pets arriving by air can only land at Auckland or Christchurch. Every window below counts back from the date of shipment, so fix the flight date first and plan the vet visits around it. Your vet must scan and record the microchip number at every examination, test, vaccination and treatment.

Cats

1. External parasites: treatment with an MPI-listed tick and flea product in the 16 days before shipment, with continuous protection through to the flight.
2. Internal parasites: two treatments for nematodes and cestodes (including Echinococcus). The first is in the 30 days before shipment and at least 14 days before the second. The second is in the 5 days before shipment.
3. Pre-export vet inspection in the 2 days before shipment: healthy, fit to travel, and free from visible external parasites, dirt, insects and seeds.

Dogs — all of the above, plus:

1. Two external parasite treatments. The first must be at least 14 days before the Babesia gibsoni blood sample, and the last in the 16 days before shipment, with continuous protection in between.
2. Babesia gibsoni testing. For a dog 6 months or older, an IFA or ELISA test plus a PCR test, both negative, on samples taken at least 14 days after the first external parasite treatment and in the 30 days before shipment. Three PCR tests at least 7 days apart are an alternative. Dogs under 6 months need the three-PCR option.
3. Heartworm. A dog 7 months or older needs a negative heartworm test on a sample taken in the 30 days before shipment. Every dog needs heartworm prevention in the 5 days before shipment, or must be up to date with a sustained-release heartworm injection.
4. Angiostrongylus vasorum treatment in the 5 days before shipment.
5. Babesia rossi. A written owner declaration that your dog has never lived in or travelled to mainland Africa. If it has, there's a test or treatment option instead.
6. Brucella canis. A desexing certificate from a vet covers a desexed dog. For an entire dog, the options depend on whether MPI recognises the exporting country as free of Brucella canis, so confirm with your vet or agent. Entire dogs also need a genital examination in the 2 days before shipment and on arrival.
7. Other country-specific conditions. The Leishmania and leptospirosis requirements also depend on how MPI classifies the exporting country. Your vet or pet transport agent should confirm exactly which apply.

Both: a written owner declaration that, for at least 21 days before shipment, your pet hasn't shown signs of infectious respiratory disease or been kept where other cats or dogs did.

Paperwork and arrival

• Veterinary certificate from an official veterinarian in the exporting country, certifying that the Import Health Standard's requirements have been met. The standard includes a model certificate for Category 1.
• Lab reports for each test, showing the microchip number.
• Originals, in English (or with a clear English translation), unless the standard says a copy is fine.
• Advance notice: tell MPI at least 5 working days before your pet is due to land, using MPI's Application for Veterinary Inspection form.
• Bedding that could carry external parasites must be free of seeds, and is either destroyed on arrival or heat-dried exactly as the standard specifies. Straw or hay bedding isn't allowed.

How long it takes

Almost every required test and treatment falls in the last 30 days before the flight (44 days on the three-PCR route for Babesia), and a dog's first tick and flea treatment has to come at least 14 days before its Babesia blood test. Booking the flight, an agent and the vet visits has to happen well before that. Petraveller, the agent we used, says international pet travel typically takes around 6-12 weeks — that's their guidance, not an MPI rule. Our story covers what happened when we left it later than ideal.

Costs

There's no single price to quote. MPI recovers the cost of its import work from the importer, and the importer or agent pays for documentation, transport, storage and biosecurity clearance. MPI publishes its current fees and charges for bringing pets to NZ. For vet work, flights and an agent's service, get a written quote for your own pet and dates.

Changes from 1 July 2026

MPI issued a new Import Health Standard in May 2026, in force from 1 July 2026. From 1 July 2026 to 1 April 2027 you can meet the requirements by complying with either the new standard or the previous one (7 April 2021). Make sure your vet and agent are working from the same version.

Next steps

• Add MPI biosecurity clearance for your pet to your moving plan so the vet visits line up with your move date.
• Moving house too? Moving from Australia to New Zealand covers the rest of the move, and Moving with Pets Within NZ covers domestic travel once your pet has landed.
• Going the other way? See bringing a dog or cat from New Zealand to Australia.

This page summarises MPI's Import Health Standard for cats and dogs from Australia arriving by air. It isn't official advice. Requirements can change, so confirm everything with MPI, your vet and your pet transport agent before you book.