How Much Does It Cost to Ship a Pet from the USA to Saudi Arabia?

Note the endorsement line, because it sits on the lower band. Saudi Arabia does not require a rabies antibody titer result on the export certificate, and the higher $160 endorsement applies only where a test result has to be verified on the paperwork. The certificate itself is valid for 30 days after issuance, which is a wider window than most destinations allow and takes some of the pressure off the last fortnight before departure.

APHIS states that dogs are not generally allowed to be imported into the Kingdom except for hunting, guarding and guides for the disabled, and that every dog traveling must hold an import permit issued by the Saudi Ministry. Cats need the same permit but not the same justification. The application runs through the Anaam electronic platform and is submitted by a sponsor in the Kingdom, who needs the animal’s details and the flight details from you before anything can be filed. The guidance the Ministry provided to APHIS adds two limits that reach individual moves rather than commercial ones: a person importing dogs has to be at least 30 years old, with diplomats exempted on official documentation, and an individual may import two cats or two dogs in any six month period. The permit is valid for 30 days from issue, so it is sequenced against a flight rather than obtained early.

The Ministry guidance names seven breeds, and crossbreeds of the same breeds, that may not be imported: pit bull, Rottweiler, boxer, mastiff, Tosa, bulldog and Perro de Presa Canario. A cross of any of them falls under the same bar, which matters for a rescue dog whose parentage is recorded as an estimate. Animals also have to be at least four months old, and the guidance states plainly that exporting a pet younger than four months is not permitted. The breed line on the vaccination record and the microchip registration is worth checking at the start of a move, because it is cheap to correct early and expensive to discover at the airport.

Four documents move with a Saudi bound pet and only one of them is American. The USDA endorsed veterinary health certificate is completed by a USDA accredited veterinarian, signed electronically and endorsed digitally through VEHCS. The import permit and the certificate of origin both come from the Saudi Ministry, and neither is presented to APHIS for endorsement, which is a common place to lose a week. The certificate of origin does not need attestation by the Saudi Embassy in the United States, so an offer to arrange that attestation is arranging something the Kingdom does not ask for. The fourth document is the vaccination record or pet passport, which has to carry the microchip number. Identification is by electronic microchip and passport, and the rabies vaccination is checked twice, once when the permit application goes in through Anaam and again when entry and return permits are issued. Crates follow IATA, and each crate carries one type of animal.

Your vet sets their own fees. The examination, the microchip and the rabies vaccination are billed by the clinic and vary by state. The Saudi side carries its own charges: the import permit and the certificate of origin are both issued by the Ministry, and neither fee appears in the material APHIS publishes. Ground transport to the airport, boarding if a flight moves, and any handling charged at the arrival port sit outside this page as well. What is published andfixed is the USDA endorsement, and that is the line this calculator can state exactly.

Crate size is the largest lever, because it drives chargeable weight and freight on this lane is quoted rather than tariffed. After that it is sequencing. The permit runs 30 days and names the port, the health certificate runs 30 days from issuance, and your sponsor controls when the permit application goes in. A move where those windows line up costs what it should. A move where the permit lands late means a rebooked flight and often a second veterinary examination on top of it.

Our Saudi Arabia destination guide sets out the full eligibility and document sequence behind these figures.

Saudi requirements from the USDA APHIS country page for pet travel from the United States to Saudi Arabia, from the veterinary health certificate APHIS publishes for dogs and cats on that route, and from the guidance the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture provided to APHIS, published there as an unofficial translation. Endorsement fees from the APHIS user fee schedule. Figures verified September 2026.

Where this page says a requirement is not published, that means it is not stated in the APHIS material and we have not verified it from a Saudi authority. It does not mean the requirement does not exist. Quarantine at the port, the permit fee and any arrival handling charge all fall into that category. Confirm the Saudi side through your sponsor before you commit to a date.

Send us the route, the breed and roughly when you want to travel, and tell us who your sponsor in the Kingdom will be. We will size the crate, sequence the permit against a real flight, and come back with a figure rather than a range.