Pet Travel Iceland | Pet Transport to Iceland from UK
Iceland is one of the strictest destinations we work with, closer to Australia than to its European neighbours. Every dog and cat entering the country needs an import permit from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST) and a minimum 14 day quarantine stay, whatever the length or purpose of the trip. Realistically, plan for the whole process to take 3 to 4 months from your first vet visit to your pet clearing quarantine.
Fetchapet guide you through MAST’s requirements and keep the testing and vaccination timeline on track, since the order things happen in matters just as much as the requirements themselves. We’re a recommended pet shipper for British Airways and work through IPATA’s international network, so you’re not piecing this together alone. We’ll collect from anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales, or you can drop off with us or meet us at Heathrow.
Why Is It So Hard To Take A Pet To Iceland?
If you’ve travelled to Germany, France or Hungary with a pet before, Iceland works a lot differently. Its whole process runs through MAST (short for Matvælastofnun, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority), and it’s far stricter than the standard EU pet travel scheme.
There’s no single certificate and a short waiting period here. MAST requires its own import permit, a set of blood tests most EU countries don’t ask for, and quarantine on arrival regardless of how well prepared your paperwork is.
You can read MAST’s own import guidance directly on their website if you’d rather go through it yourself.
The upside is that once you understand the sequence, it’s a known process with a known outcome, not something that gets decided at the border.
How Long Does It Take To Import A Pet To Iceland?
Plan for the whole process to take around 4 months, start to finish. Here’s how that time actually breaks down.
Everything starts with the microchip and rabies vaccination. MAST’s own minimum is 45 to 60 days before travel for this step, but once you factor in the antibody test, the lab wait, and the other blood tests, most owners need closer to 4 months in practice.
From 30 days after that vaccination, blood is drawn for the rabies antibody titer test at an EU approved laboratory. The result needs to come back at 0.5 IU/ml or above, and lab results can take one to three weeks, so it’s worth booking this in early rather than waiting.
The import permit application itself can run alongside this rather than after it, MAST only needs your pet’s breed, microchip number, and your own details, submitted at least 30 days before travel. MAST sends a payment request once they’ve received the application, and the permit is valid for a year once it’s issued.
Parasite treatment happens in two rounds. The first is 21 to 28 days before travel, the second 5 to 10 days before.
The additional blood tests, Brucella canis for all dogs, Leishmania for unneutered dogs, and FeLV and FIV for cats, are taken within 30 days of travel.
The remaining core vaccinations need to be done no less than 14 days before travel. For dogs, that’s leptospirosis, distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza. For cats, it’s panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis and calicivirus.
In the final week, 5 to 10 days out, your pet has a full health exam and your vet completes the official certificate. That certificate, along with every lab result, has to reach MAST no later than 5 days before travel.
On travel day, your pet flies into Keflavík, the only approved entry point, arriving between 6am and 5pm on one of the pre set quarantine admission dates.
That’s a lot to take in when you’re just starting to plan a move. It’s exactly why we handle it this way, we track every deadline against your actual travel date, so you’re not the one juggling lab wait times and permit windows on your own.
What Does My Dog Need To Enter Iceland?
Alongside the microchip, rabies vaccination and titer test above, dogs need the leptospirosis, distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza vaccinations, and a negative Brucella canis test.
Dogs also need either a negative lungworm test or a preventive lungworm treatment, given 5 to 10 days before travel. Unneutered dogs need a negative Leishmania test too, if that comes back positive, neutering before travel is the way forward rather than the end of the road.
What Does My Cat Need To Enter Iceland?
Cats follow the same starting point as dogs, microchip, rabies vaccination and titer test. On top of that, they need panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis and calicivirus vaccinations, plus negative FeLV and FIV tests.
There’s one place this process is actually easier for a cat than a dog. Cats don’t need the lungworm testing or the Brucella canis test dogs are required to have.
Which Dog Breeds Are Banned In Iceland?
Iceland doesn’t allow the import of Pit Bull Terriers or Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu, Dogo Argentino, Cane Corso, Presa Canario or Boerboel. Cross breeds of any of these are also banned, going back five generations, and wolf hybrids aren’t permitted going back ten.
MAST can still assess a dog against this list based on origin, build and temperament, even if the breed itself isn’t named on it. If you’re at all unsure where your dog stands, it’s worth checking with us before booking anything.
How Long Is Pet Quarantine In Iceland?
Every pet spends a minimum of 14 days in quarantine at one of two approved stations, Reykjanesbær or Mósel. Both only admit animals within set three day windows, roughly every three weeks, so your travel date needs to line up with one of those windows rather than being chosen freely.
Quarantine bookings and costs are handled directly by the station rather than by us. We’ll help you coordinate the timing against everything else so it all lines up.
Which Airport Do I Fly Into For Iceland?
Pets travel to Iceland by air only, and only through Keflavík. The travel crate has to meet IATA standards and be hard sided, soft carriers aren’t accepted on this route.
Every document travels with your pet rather than separately, the import permit, the original certificate, and all lab reports, all in an envelope attached to the crate.
How Much Does It Cost To Fly A Pet To Iceland?
Crate size still drives most of the flight cost, same as everywhere else we fly to. Iceland adds more on top than most destinations though, the blood tests, the import permit fee, and the quarantine station’s own charges are all separate costs beyond what you’d budget for a standard EU move.
We’ll Guide You Through The MAST Process
Getting your pet to Iceland means coordinating MAST’s paperwork, lab timings and a quarantine booking around one flight date, so it helps to have someone who’s done this before.
The sooner we’re involved, the more of your 4 month window we can put to good use, rather than losing weeks to a missed lab deadline.
FAQs
Yes. Every dog and cat entering Iceland spends a minimum of 14 days in quarantine, regardless of the length or purpose of the trip.
Around 3 to 4 months in practice, even though MAST’s stated minimum for the rabies vaccination step is 45 to 60 days. The permit application can be submitted independently, it’s the vaccination, antibody test and additional blood tests running against each other’s waiting periods that eat up most of the time.
Keflavík is the only approved entry point for pets, and arrivals are only accepted on scheduled quarantine admission dates.
Yes, Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Fila Brasileiro, Tosa Inu, Dogo Argentino, Cane Corso, Presa Canario, Boerboel and their cross breeds, along with wolf hybrids.
The application itself goes through you or your vet directly with MAST, but we’ll tell you exactly what’s needed and when, and handle everything else around it, the crate, collection, and coordinating the timeline against your quarantine booking.
Fly Your Pets To Iceland
Dog Export to Iceland
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