Your dog or cat to Bonaire: 21 days after the jab, 15 weeks old and no titre test

Yes, your dog or cat can come to Bonaire, and the requirements are more manageable than for most destinations outside Europe. Customs Caribbean Netherlands asks for two things: a valid health declaration, signed by an official or accredited veterinarian, and a rabies vaccination given at least 21 days before departure. Because that vaccination is not valid in an animal younger than twelve weeks, a dog or cat is at least fifteen weeks old on arrival. A blood test for antibodies, the titre test that is compulsory for many countries outside the EU, appears nowhere in Bonaire's requirements. What it costs is mainly time: the NVWA legalises the papers in Utrecht, and you request that appointment at least fourteen working days in advance.

What exactly does Bonaire require?

The basis is the Small Animals Import Decree BES. It prohibits the import of dogs, cats and other small animals without a valid health certificate, and on top of that requires valid proof of rabies vaccination for dogs and cats. If anything is wrong, the animal goes into quarantine immediately under that same decree. Customs translates that into practice: the vaccination at least 21 days before departure, the animal at least fifteen weeks old.

One ban is rarely relevant for Dutch movers, but good to know if you travel via South America: dogs and cats from a country on the mainland of South and Central America, with the exception of Suriname, may not enter Bonaire or transit through it. The decree makes one exception, for whoever settles permanently on the islands and has owned the animal for four months or longer. Protected species require a CITES document.

Which clocks are running?

Step	Deadline or requirement
Microchip	before or on the day of the rabies vaccination, otherwise the jab is invalid
Rabies vaccination	at least 21 days before departure; not valid in an animal younger than 12 weeks
Minimum age on arrival	15 weeks
Health declaration	by an official or accredited veterinarian
Legalisation by the NVWA in Utrecht	request the appointment at least 14 working days in advance via dpp@nvwa.nl
NVWA reply to a question about the requirements	aims for 2 working days
Animal from South or Central America (except Suriname)	prohibited, unless settling and owned for at least 4 months
Customs exemption as removal goods	pets fall under the household removal exemption

How does the Dutch side work?

The NVWA describes the route for every destination outside the EU. First the basics at your own vet: a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination and an EU pet passport. Mind the order: the animal must be chipped at the time of vaccination, otherwise the jab doesn't count. Then you check in the NVWA's Export Assistant whether a binding certificate with instructions is ready for Bonaire. If not, you e-mail dpp@nvwa.nl with your animal's and your journey's details; the NVWA aims to reply within two working days with the country's requirements and how to meet them.

If the EU pet passport or the health declaration has to be legalised, that happens at the NVWA office in Utrecht. You request the appointment by e-mail, at least fourteen working days before the date on which you want the legalisation. Don't bring the animal itself, but do bring all documents, complete and correctly filled in; incomplete papers the NVWA will not legalise. You first have the health declaration filled in and signed by your own vet, and you check how long it is valid, so that it still covers the travel date.

Count backwards. Departure date minus 21 days is the last day for the rabies jab, and departure date minus fourteen working days is the last day to request the NVWA appointment. Whoever brings a puppy or kitten adds the twelve-week minimum age for the vaccination: younger than fifteen weeks, the animal does not get into Bonaire.

What changes after arrival?

At customs the pet counts as removal goods and falls under the exemption for your household goods, provided you applied for that permit in advance. What no longer goes without saying after landing is the way back. The NVWA warns that a rabies vaccination which a vet outside the EU enters in the EU pet passport is not valid for a trip back to the Netherlands; an animal re-vaccinated on Bonaire then travels on an EU animal health certificate from an official vet, not on the passport. Whoever expects to fly back and forth with the animal therefore keeps the Dutch vaccination valid as long as possible.

How the pet clock falls alongside the container and the car in the planning is in the step-by-step plan for Bonaire.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Bonaire or go straight to step 3.3 in the open plan.