Cooper and I have moved enough times that I now read the small print twice, and French Guiana is where that habit earns its keep. The flight from Paris is domestic, so nothing about booking it feels like a border. But this is a department that applies France's rules as a baseline and then adds its own on top. Plan it like an international move on paper and the rest falls into place.

Bringing a pet to French Guiana requires three documents in the right order: a microchip, a rabies vaccine within the destination's wait window, and a government-endorsed health certificate. The table below lays out exactly what's required, what's not, and where each rule comes from.

Who sets the rules here

French Guiana applies the rules of France as its baseline, and adds requirements of its own on top.

Official source
guyane.gouv.fr
Relationship to France
inherits, plus local rules

How French Guiana handles your pet

Key points

  • Which rules apply: DAAF Guyane (service SALIM) confirmed to Pawgo on 2026-09-19 that "c'est la réglementation communautaire qui s'applique en fonction des pays de provenance" — Guyane follows the EU rules for the country you are coming from, and has no separate import regime of its own
  • Coming from mainland France, Corsica or another overseas department: your pet must still be vaccinated against rabies
  • This is Guyane's own rule and it catches people out, because the flight is domestic
  • Arrêté du 5 septembre 2008, article 3: "Les carnivores domestiques en provenance de la France continentale, de Corse ou d'un autre département d'outre-mer qui font l'objet d'une introduction sur l'ensemble du département de la Guyane doivent être vaccinés contre la rage"
  • Rabies carried by vampire bats is present in Guyane, which is why the rule exists
  • What you need: electronic identification, rabies vaccination, and a health certificate signed by a vétérinaire sanitaire (a vet holding a French sanitary mandate)
  • Arriving overland from Brazil or Suriname: we have asked DAAF how land and river crossings are handled and do not yet have an answer
  • Contact SALIM directly at salim-973@guyane.gouv.fr before travelling that way
  • Source: DGTM/DEAAF Guyane, service SALIM, in writing to Pawgo on 2026-09-19, and the arrêté of 5 September 2008 on Légifrance

Each fact comes straight from the operator’s published policy. Tap the to read the exact wording; the opens the source page.

Health & documents

Microchip · Required Yesverified 2026-07-15
Microchip · StandardISO 11784/11785verified 2026-07-15
Microchip · Tattoo accepted Yesverified 2026-07-14
Microchip · Must be done before vaccination Yesverified 2026-07-15
Quarantine · Typenone_if_compliantverified 2026-07-31
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Required Yesverified 2026-07-14
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Minimum level iu ml0.5verified 2026-07-08
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Approved laboratory required Yesverified 2026-08-28
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Waiting period after test days90 daysverified 2026-07-08
Rabies titer test (FAVN) · Test must follow vaccination days30 daysverified 2026-08-28
Health certificate · Issuervétérinaire sanitaireverified 2026-09-19
Health certificate · Required Yesverified 2026-08-28
Health certificate · Endorsed byofficial veterinarianverified 2026-07-15
Health certificate · Validity days10 daysverified 2026-07-15
Health certificate · Original required Yesverified 2026-07-15
Health certificate · Government endorsed Yesverified 2026-07-15
Rabies vaccination · Required Yesverified 2026-09-19
Rabies vaccination · Booster required Yesverified 2026-07-14
Rabies vaccination · Waiting period after vaccination21 daysverified 2026-07-14
Rabies vaccination · Max vaccine age at travel3 monthsverified 2026-08-28
Rabies vaccination · Min age at vaccination12 weeksverified 2026-07-14

Other rules

Pets accepted Acceptedverified 2026-07-14

Timing chain

Day -90 microchip implant · Day -21 rabies vaccine deadline · Day -10 health certificate issued · Day 0 arrive at customs

Conditional requirements

These rules apply only to some travellers — where the pet is departing from, where it has been, or who is travelling with it. Most people can ignore them, but if one applies to you it can change what you need, or mean denied entry if you skip it.

Pet arriving in Guyane from within the European Union

  • Rabies titer (blood) test: The titer sentence this row cites is immediately qualified on its own page: "effectuer un test prouvant l'efficacité du vaccin contre la rage (titrage sérique des anticorps antirabiques) ... Cet examen n'est pas nécessaire si la situation du pays de provenance est favorable au regard de la rage". DGTM/DEAAF Guyane (service SALIM) told Pawgo on 2026-09-19 that "c'est la réglementation communautaire qui s'applique en fonction des pays de provenance" — the regime follows the origin, and Guyane is an EU outermost region, so a pet arriving from an EU member state or another EU region is moving inside the Union and is not importing into it. Rabies vaccination and the health certificate are NOT relaxed: the same officer confirms "identification électronique, vaccination contre la rage et certificat de bonne santé signé par un vétérinaire sanitaire", and the arrêté du 5 septembre 2008 article 3 requires the vaccination even for a purely domestic arrival from mainland France, Corsica or another DOM. Third countries whose rabies situation is favourable are not enumerated on the page, so every non-EU origin — including a land or river crossing from Brazil or Suriname, which DAAF has not yet addressed — keeps the strict base.

Breed restrictions

Banned breeds: Staffordshire terrier (non-LOF), American Staffordshire terrier / pit-bull (non-LOF), Mastiff / boerbull (non-LOF), Tosa (non-LOF) verified 2026-07-17

Restricted breeds: chiens de 2ème catégorie verified 2026-08-31

The microchip must be implanted before the rabies vaccination, not on the same day and not afterwards. A vaccination given to an animal that was not yet identified does not count, and the repair is a second vaccination and a second waiting period. A vet outside the pet-travel routine can get that order wrong. Ask for the implantation date in writing and check it falls before the vaccination date.
Four dog types are barred when the animal is not entered in a recognised pedigree register: Staffordshire terrier, American Staffordshire terrier or pit-bull, Mastiff or boerbull, and Tosa. The register entry is what separates a permitted dog from a barred one, so the pedigree document decides the outcome at check-in. Carry the original, not a photograph of it, and confirm the breed wording matches the register exactly.
The health certificate is valid for 10 days from the date it is signed, which makes the vet appointment a scheduling problem rather than a paperwork one. Book it inside that window and leave room for a delayed flight. Sea transport extends the period. A certificate that expires in transit means booking the appointment again at the far end of a long-haul crossing, at full price.
What surprised me most about French Guiana is how much of the work happens before anyone mentions a border. Rabies is endemic there through vampire bats, which is why a domestic arrival still carries real rules. Get the chip, the vaccination and the certificate in the right order and the trip itself is ordinary. Build your plan around the certificate's 10-day window and work backwards from your departure date.
Get YOUR personalized plan for French Guiana →

Glossary

ISO chip
ISO 11784/11785 — the universal microchip standard.
FAVN
Fluorescent Antibody Virus Neutralization — a rabies serology test required by rabies-free destinations.
Brachycephalic
Snub-nosed breeds (French Bulldogs, Pugs, Persians, Himalayans) with restricted airline acceptance due to heat-stress risk.
AVIH
Animal Vehicle In Hold — IATA's term for cargo pet shipment, with fees that vary by carrier and route.