There are no visa restrictions on pets, but they will be expected to have a clean bill of health from the vet and have had a rabies shot between one month and 12 months before departure.

In addition to holding an EU Pet Passport, a certificate of general health issued by the competent authorities of the state of origin declaring the following, is needed:

• identity information (breed, sex, age, characteristics of coat, birth date);
• general information on the owner;
• clinical state of the animal.

The certificate must be provided both in Italian and the language of the country of origin of the animal. The certificate can be issued by any vet (both public and private) provided that he/she is officially authorised by the country's competent authorities to issue a health certificate for bringing pets overseas.

The certificate must declare that the animal has been visited on the day the certificate has been issued and has been found in physical health, and that it has been vaccinated against rabies within at least 20 days and not longer than 11 months from the date of the certificate.

In Italy the following regulation is currently applied:

Please note that some local administrations have adopted additional regulation and therefore it is advisable to contact them directly for correct information.