What is the Pet Passport?
The European Union Pet Passport — officially known as the PAC (Passaporte de Animal de Companhia) — is the official document that identifies a pet and certifies its health status for travel between European countries.
It follows a harmonised format across all EU Member States, allowing authorities in any country to quickly verify that a pet meets the required health conditions.
Which species does it cover?
The EU Pet Passport is issued exclusively for dogs, cats and ferrets. Other pets — birds, reptiles, rodents, rabbits, ornamental fish — do not have a European passport and are subject to different rules that vary by destination country.
What does the passport contain?
The PAC is organised into 12 sections:
- Section I — Owner details (name, address, signature)
- Section II — Description of the animal (name, species, breed, sex, colour, date of birth)
- Section III — Marking (microchip location, date of application and alphanumeric code)
- Section IV — Passport issuance (vet details and date of issue)
- Section V — Rabies vaccination (vaccine administered, laboratory, date and validity)
- Section VI — Rabies antibody titration test (for travel to third countries with rabies risk)
- Section VII — Echinococcus treatment (required for certain countries)
- Section VIII — Treatment against other parasites
- Section IX — Other vaccinations
- Section X — Clinical examination
- Section XI — Licensing
- Section XII — Miscellaneous
The most commonly used sections are III (microchip), V (rabies vaccination) and X (clinical examination). The others are completed as applicable.
Who can issue the passport in Portugal?
In Portugal, the PAC can only be issued by authorised veterinarians — registered with the Order of Veterinarians (OMV) with an active licence. It cannot be obtained at a parish council, a pet shop or online.
In practice, any veterinary clinic can issue the document. There is no need to visit a DGAV (Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Affairs) office.
How to get a passport — step by step
To obtain a PAC for your pet, the following steps must be completed in this order:
1. Microchip
The pet must be identified with a microchip compatible with ISO 11784/11785 standards. The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination — if the order is reversed, the vaccine cannot be correctly recorded in the passport, which may invalidate travel.
Tattoos are only accepted as identification if they were applied before 3 July 2011 and are clearly legible.
2. Rabies vaccination
After microchipping, the pet must be vaccinated against rabies. The vaccine can only be administered to animals that are at least 12 weeks old.
Important timing note: For a first-time vaccination (primary vaccination), the vaccine is only considered valid 21 days after administration. This means the pet cannot travel until three weeks after its first rabies vaccination. For booster vaccinations given within the validity period, protection is immediate.
3. Passport issuance
Once the microchip is in place and the rabies vaccination has been recorded, the veterinarian issues the PAC. The document is registered in the name of the owner recorded in SIAC (Portugal's national pet registration system).
Does the passport expire?
The PAC is a lifelong document — once issued, it does not expire and does not need to be renewed.
However, the validity for travel depends on Section V (rabies vaccination) being up to date. If the rabies vaccination expires, the passport itself remains valid, but the pet cannot travel until it is revaccinated. Depending on how much time has passed, the 21-day waiting period for primary vaccination may need to be observed again.
It is therefore important to keep the rabies vaccination current even if your pet does not travel frequently — not only for travel purposes, but also because it is legally required in Portugal for dogs under Decree-Law n.º 82/2019.
What changed in 2026?
On 22 April 2026, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131 entered into force, updating the legal framework for pet travel within the EU. The changes aim to strengthen traceability, combat illegal animal trafficking and standardise controls across Member States.
The main practical changes are:
- New health certificate models — for pets entering the EU from third countries
- New identification requirements — microchips applied from January 2028 onwards must include the animal's country of origin code
- New declaration models for authorised persons travelling with a pet without its owner
Phased timeline
The changes do not all take effect at the same time:
Already in force (since 22 April 2026)
- New traceability and identification rules
- New declaration models for travel with an authorised person
1 October 2026
- New health certificates become mandatory for pets entering the EU from third countries — the old model will no longer be accepted for certificates issued after this date
1 January 2028
- New passports (including the country of origin code in the microchip) become mandatory for all newly issued passports
- Passports issued before this date in the previous format remain valid
Are old passports still valid?
Yes. Passports issued under the pre-2013 reform model (before 29 December 2014) remain valid for the lifetime of the animal and do not need to be replaced.
Passports issued between 2014 and April 2026 also do not need to be replaced — they remain valid until January 2028, after which the new model becomes mandatory for newly issued passports.
In short: if your pet already has a passport, you do not need to replace it now.
In summary
- The EU Pet Passport is issued exclusively for dogs, cats and ferrets
- Only authorised veterinarians can issue it in Portugal
- The correct order is always: microchip → rabies vaccination → passport
- First vaccination: wait 21 days before travelling
- The passport is lifelong — what expires is the rabies vaccination
- Old passports (including the pre-2014 model) remain valid
- New rules in force since 22 April 2026, with phased changes until January 2028
- For travel outside the EU, the PAC is generally not sufficient — an additional health certificate is required