Arrange MPI biosecurity clearance for your pet

Bringing a pet to New Zealand from most countries is a genuinely long process -- plan for months, not weeks, and expect real cost.

How to do it

1. Check MPI's country-specific requirements first. Your pet's import requirements depend heavily on which country it's coming from -- specifically its rabies-risk classification -- so the exact steps vary. Start at MPI's bringing-pets-to-NZ pages for your specific country.
2. Expect to need: an import permit, ISO-compliant microchipping, rabies vaccination on a specific timeline, a vet health certificate, and a mandatory minimum 10-day stay in an MPI-approved quarantine facility on arrival.
3. Budget realistically -- total cost including vet prep, airfreight, the import permit, and quarantine commonly runs NZ$5,000-10,000, with quarantine alone typically $1,500-2,500.
4. Start early. Between vaccination timelines, permit processing, and quarantine bookings, this is one of the longest lead-time tasks in the whole move.

Common mistakes

• Assuming your pet's existing vaccinations meet NZ's specific timeline requirements -- the rabies vaccination window matters, not just having had one
• Booking quarantine late -- space is limited and this can become your critical-path bottleneck
• Not checking country-specific requirements early enough to still meet vaccination timing windows if something's missing

Related tasks

Book this as early as any task in your whole move -- it has some of the longest, least flexible lead times of anything on this list.