Bringing a Dog or Cat to Colombia: ICA and USDA Requirements (2026)

Colombia's animal-health agency, the ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario), checks four things when you land:

1. The printed CIS request and payment receipt from the ICA's online system, SISPAP (see the next section).
2. The original health certificate from the official veterinary authority of the country you're coming from, signed and stamped (or electronically signed), issued no more than 10 calendar days before the pet enters Colombia. It must describe the animal (species, breed, sex, age, coat color, microchip if it has one) and certify that it received internal and external parasite treatment within the 60 days before travel, with the product name, active ingredient and date, and that it is fit to travel.
3. A current vaccination record with product name, batch number, date given and expiry date (vaccine list below).
4. The pet itself, for a physical inspection. ICA says animals must arrive without recent wounds or acute injuries.

If everything checks out, the ICA inspector issues the Certificado de Inspección Sanitaria (CIS) and your pet can enter.¹²

No. Domestic dogs and cats don't need the ICA's import document (Documento Zoosanitario para Importación). They get a document review, a physical inspection and a CIS at the point of entry instead.² USDA APHIS says the same for pets coming from the US: "Personal pet dogs or cats do not need an import permit."³

Five or more dogs or cats under one person's name count as a commercial shipment under the resolution.²

ICA asks you to do this online before you arrive:

1. Register as an ICA user. Your username and password arrive by email.
2. Log in to SISPAP at afrodita.ica.gov.co and request the Certificado de Inspección Sanitaria (CIS), with your details and the pet's.
3. Pay the inspection fee online.
4. Print the CIS request and the payment receipt and carry them with the pet's documents.

You need one request per species. A dog and a cat means two requests. Two or more animals of the same species can go on one request, up to 10 animals.¹

If you can't use SISPAP, ICA says you can do the whole process at its office at the airport, port or border crossing. Payment there is by debit or credit card (Credibanco, Mastercard, Visa, American Express). No cash. (same source)

Dogs need rabies plus the core canine set ICA lists (distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvovirus, coronavirus, parainfluenza). Cats need rabies plus panleukopenia, viral rhinotracheitis and calicivirus. The first rabies shot must be at least 21 days before the flight, and the pet must be at least 15 weeks old. Details and the full list are in the table below.

Source: ICA Res. 100164/2021, art. 4.2, read Oct 26, 2026.

• First rabies shot: at least 21 days before the flight.
• Minimum age: 15 weeks.¹
• If your country doesn't vaccinate against one of the non-rabies diseases, bring a certificate from the official vet service saying so. The pet can then enter without home quarantine. If your country doesn't vaccinate against rabies at all, the pet goes into home quarantine and gets the rabies shot from a vet in Colombia.²

Not for entry. The resolution asks the health certificate to list the microchip "en caso de contar con este" (if the pet has one).²

Leaving is different. Dogs under 12 months old leaving Colombia must have a 15-digit microchip readable with HDX or FDX-B technology. (same source, art. 7.1.3) The country you fly to next may also require one.

USDA APHIS's Colombia page, last modified Mar 5, 2026, sets out the US side:

• A USDA-accredited veterinarian issues the international health certificate, and USDA APHIS endorses it within 10 days of travel.
• Accredited vets can sign electronically and submit through VEHCS (the Veterinary Export Health Certification System). APHIS can endorse it digitally, and you can print the endorsed certificate. Nothing has to be mailed back.
• The rabies vaccination certificate travels with the pet and the health certificate.
• Carry at least one photocopy of the original health certificate.
• The certificate doesn't need a notary and doesn't need a Colombian consulate stamp.
• Colombia "will reject pets that do not meet the requirements of the posted health certificate."

Source: USDA APHIS, Pet Travel From the United States to Colombia, read Oct 26, 2026.

Count the 10 days carefully. ICA counts them as calendar days before the pet enters Colombia, so a long layover or a delayed connection eats into the window.²

Airlines set their own rules for pets in the cabin or hold. APHIS says to check with the airline.³

These are the government fees we could confirm. Vet fees, vaccines, airline pet fees and crates are extra and vary.

APHIS charges more when a certificate needs lab tests (US$160 to US$275 for the first pet). Vaccines don't count as tests.⁴ The APHIS Colombia page lists no lab tests for dogs and cats, but your vet confirms which fee applies. APHIS doesn't charge for service dogs as defined by the ADA. It does charge for emotional support animals. (same source)

Fees last checked Oct 26, 2026 on ICA tarifas and USDA APHIS. If the official page says something different, the official page is right.

The ICA inspector can order one of four measures, and you pay for it²:

• Retention for up to 5 calendar days at the carrier's facilities while you fix a paperwork problem. You provide food, water and care.
• Home quarantine of at least 15 calendar days at an address you give, with ICA follow-up. This applies when the health certificate is missing or out of date but vaccines are current, or when the pet comes from a country that doesn't vaccinate against rabies. The pet can't leave that address without ICA authorization.
• Reshipment to the country of origin, if you don't fix the problem or refuse quarantine.
• Humane euthanasia (sacrificio sanitario) where there is evidence of exotic or transmissible diseases that threaten animal or public health.

Only with an import permit issued in advance by the ICA. APHIS says that applies to all animals except pet dogs and cats. Pet birds also go into home quarantine for at least 21 days under an ICA vet's supervision, and Colombia has banned birds from Lincoln County, Tennessee since Mar 9, 2017.³ We haven't read the ICA's own requirements for other species.

To leave, you need a health certificate from a private vet in Colombia, registered with COMVEZCOL, issued no more than 5 calendar days before departure, plus vaccines that meet the destination country's rules. The ICA then inspects the pet and issues an exit CIS, valid for up to 5 calendar days.²

If you'll later fly to the European Union or another country that asks for a rabies antibody test, ICA recommends doing that test before you come to Colombia.¹

For dogs going back to the United States, APHIS says the CDC is the primary authority.³ The CDC says its requirements depend on where the dog was vaccinated and which countries it has been in during the 6 months before entering the US, and points owners to its Dog Importation Navigator.⁵ Check it before you book the return. We haven't summarized the CDC rules here.

• ICA, Dirección Técnica de Cuarentena: cuarentena.animal@ica.gov.co. Office at Avenida Carrera 20 No. 83-20, Edificio NeoPoint 83, Bogotá, Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Switchboard +57 601 7953930; free national line 01 8000 412718. ICA also lists email contacts for each airport, port and border crossing.¹
• USDA APHIS Veterinary Export Trade Services: askvets@usda.gov, or your USDA-accredited vet.³

Your own entry is a separate process. See Colombia entry requirements and Check-MIG.

• ICA (Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario), "Ingreso de perros y gatos a Colombia" (SISPAP steps; documents; vaccines; 21 days; 15 weeks; card-only payment at the airport; up to 10 animals per request; contacts; no page date shown): https://www.ica.gov.co/importacion-y-exportacion/otros-procedimientos/requisitos-para-importar-mascotas/ingreso-de-perros-y-gatos-a-colombia
• ICA, Resolución 100164 of Jul 7, 2021 (arts. 3 to 9: definitions, entry requirements, inspection, sanitary measures, exit requirements, microchip for dogs under 12 months leaving): https://www.ica.gov.co/importacion-y-exportacion/otros-procedimientos/requisitos-para-importar-mascotas/resolucion-100164-del-07-de-julio-2021.aspx
• ICA, Tarifas page and Resolución 00034487 of Dec 23, 2025, Annex 1 "Tarifas ICA 2026" (in force Jan 1, 2026; codes 03039, 03040, 03120): https://www.ica.gov.co/oferta-institucional/tarifas and https://www.ica.gov.co/getattachment/Oferta-Institucional/Tarifas/Resolucion-34487_2025-y-Anexo-1-1.pdf.aspx?lang=es-CO
• USDA APHIS, "Pet Travel From the United States to Colombia" (last modified Mar 5, 2026): https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel/us-to-another-country-export/pet-travel-us-colombia
• CDC, "Bringing a Dog into the U.S." (page dated Aug 1, 2024; requirements depend on vaccination country and the last 6 months of travel): https://www.cdc.gov/importation/dogs/index.html
• USDA APHIS, "Cost To Endorse Your Pet's Health Certificate" (last modified June 18, 2026): https://www.aphis.usda.gov/pet-travel/us-to-foreign-country/cost-to-endorse