FAQ: Bringing Pets From Vietnam to Germany

These are the questions that don’t fit neatly into a step-by-step checklist — the ones that come up once the main paperwork is already in motion. For the full requirement list, see the Germany pet import law guide.

For breed-specific questions, the breed restrictions guide goes deeper than any single FAQ answer could.

New to the route entirely? Start with the Germany pet shipping guide for the full overview.

Does Germany require an import permit before departure?

No. For a standard non-commercial pet — one traveling with its owner, not being sold or rehomed — Germany doesn’t require an advance import permit or licence from BMLEH. As long as the microchip, rabies vaccination, and health certificate are in order, there’s no separate application to file before travel.

Is my dog banned just because it’s a large or protection-type breed?

No, and this is where most confusion starts. Only four named breeds — Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and Bull Terrier — are banned at the federal level: they can’t be brought in to live in Germany, and the only opening for a family pet is a stay of up to four weeks with someone who doesn’t live there. Other breeds sometimes assumed to be restricted, like the Rottweiler or Cane Corso, aren’t banned nationally; they may appear on a specific state’s own list, which works completely differently — the breed restrictions guide linked above covers which rule actually applies to a given breed.

If my dog is on a state’s breed list but not the federal ban, can it still enter?

Yes — that’s the entire point of the distinction. A dog on a state-level list has a real legal path in: either a stay of up to four weeks with a non-resident companion (the only route also open to the four federally banned breeds), or a permanent move if the owner can prove the dog is already legally kept in another country — full detail in the breed restrictions guide linked above. It will also need that state’s own holding permit after arrival, separate from the entry process itself. This applies the same way to a permanent move — see the visa-driven relocation guide for how that proof requirement fits into a longer-term move.

Will my pet be quarantined on arrival?

Not automatically. Germany doesn’t run a fixed-length quarantine facility for compliant pets — a pet with complete, matching documentation clears at the entry point. Quarantine (or, in serious cases, return to the country of origin) only comes into play when something doesn’t match: an expired vaccine, a missing titer test, or a microchip number that doesn’t line up with the paperwork.

Can someone other than me bring my pet to Germany?

Yes, but a written declaration is required confirming the movement is non-commercial, and the person accompanying the pet has to travel within five days of the owner’s own trip. Missing that window risks the movement being reclassified as commercial, which brings a stricter set of requirements — so this is worth planning around deliberately, not treating as a minor scheduling detail.

Do the requirements differ for cats?

Mostly not. Cats follow the same microchip, vaccination, and titer test requirements as dogs. The two differences: cats don’t need the Echinococcus tapeworm treatment dogs require in certain cases, and no German state maintains a breed restriction list for cats.

Is BMLEH the same agency that used to be called BMEL?

Yes. The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture was renamed to BMLEH — Bundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ernährung und Heimat — following a government change in May 2025. It’s the same agency with the same role in setting pet entry requirements; the older name, BMEL, still shows up in some older guidance.