This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on my link and buy an item I will make a small commision off that purchase at no additional cost to you. To see my full disclosure policy click here.

You just found out that you are relocating to Saipan from the continental United States. If you are like me there are an immediate 100 questions that come to mind.

Trying to sort out the logistics can be a very overwhelming task. I remember many headaches during the first few weeks we began to relocate.

To make matters worse, there isn’t a ton of information online about relocating to Saipan. I’m not sure why this is, because since I’ve lived here I have met tons of ex-pats. We are all online (seeing as how I met them all on Instagram), so I would assume that there would be some information out there.

Alas, other than a few threads on Reddit, and one book that I highly recommend, there just isn’t much to be found about moving to Saipan. Thankfully, I am an old military wife, so managing a huge relocation project was no big deal for me.

What was a big deal was something I’ve never had to do before: move my dogs overseas.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toni Summers (@tspoon77)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toni Summers (@tspoon77)

Of all the things we had to do to facilitate this move – from selling our house and everything inside it to fitting everything we now own into ten suitcases and hauling them over on a 41-hour trip – figuring out the logistics of how to get two dogs to Saipan was by far the most stressful part.

Thankfully I was very lucky to have a vet back in Memphis who had a fantastic office manager. She was on the ball and after a few back and forth emails with the USDA, she gave me the good (and the very expensive bad) news.

The good news is you CAN skip quarantine! The bad news is getting your pets here is going to be very expensive. Don’t let that discourage you though! Let me show you how to take the stress out of relocating your pets to paradise.

Moving your pets to Saipan

The first person we contacted was the CNMI State Veterinarian, Dr. Ignacio T. dela Cruz, D.V.M. He sent us this letter outlining the requirements for pet entry.

Dear Pet Owner:

This is in regards to our animal quarantine rules and regulations and entry requirements for dogs and cats intended for importation into the Northern Marianas.

All dogs and cats from rabies infected areas intended for importation into the Northern Mariana Islands are required by law to undergo at least 120 days of quarantine in Guam, Honolulu or at the As Perdido Animal Quarantine Facility on Saipan.  The reason behind this is to avoid the possible introduction of rabies which we are quite fortunate not to have. All other quarantine places are not acceptable.

Our quarantine requirements and entry conditions for dogs and cats from the U.S. Mainland and other rabies-infected areas are as follows:

1. An animal quarantine permit for each species must be secured in advance from our office along with a $25.00 non-refundable entry permit fee (per animal) in certified check or money order made out to “CNMI Treasurer.”  An accurate description of each animal must be submitted which shall include the name, breed, color, weight, age, sex, and other pertinent information.
2. An advance deposit of $50.00 per animal is also required.  This money is non-refundable, but shall be used as partial payment for the quarantine fee if the animal does undergo quarantine on Saipan.  If the quarantine space reservation is canceled due to non-arrival of the animal or for other reason, then the deposit money becomes forfeit after the expiration of the issued entry permit.
3. Upon arrival on Saipan, the animal shall be quarantined at our As Perdido Animal Quarantine Station for a period of at least 120 days.  The individual animal quarantine fee is $10.00 per day for dogs and $5.00 per day for cats. The fee is only for feeding, watering and cleaning of the kennels.  It does not cover the cost of drugs, medication, veterinary supplies and materials, deworming, examination, bathing or grooming, vaccinations, treatment for any medical reason, surgery, veterinary care, other services, etc.
4. The animal must be examined and certified as being healthy by a licensed, Federally accredited veterinarian of the state or country of origin within 10 days prior to arrival date.

The health certificate must indicate that the animal is free from any sign or evidence of infectious or communicable disease, and was dipped or otherwise treated to free of external and internal parasites within 10 days of the arrival date on Saipan.

A certificate of current rabies vaccination must accompany the animal.  In addition, the following vaccinations (immunizations) must be current and up-to-date:

     Dogs: Canine Distemper; Parvovirus; Infectious Canine Hepatitis; Leptospirosis; Parainfluenza; Bordetella bronchiseptica (kennel cough); Coronavirus

     Cats: Feline Distemper; Feline Leukemia; Feline Rhinotracheitis; Calicivirus; Feline Pneumonitis

The original or copy of quarantine permit must accompany the animal during shipment.

We have five kennels available, but only one of these is for cats.  Each kennel is about 6’x20’ with a 2-inch mesh wire and concrete floor. There is also a sleeping area about 6’x3’ with a solid, concrete roof. They are built to withstand our typhoons which we experience from time to time.

In applying for and requesting for a quarantine space, it is understood that you are also waiving any and all claims for liability against the Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the Division of Agriculture, including all employees and the CNMI Veterinarian, and the Government of the Northern Marianas which may be related to the quarantine.

Sincerely,

 /s/ Ignacio T. dela C ruz ,  D.V.M .

Dr. Ignacio T. dela Cruz, D.V.M.

CNMI Government Veterinarian

P.S. By the way, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Marianas are endemic areas for heartworms.  Therefore, I would strongly advise that dogs be examined for heartworms by your veterinarian before shipping them over.  If found infested, I recommend that dogs be treated with an adulticide and microfilaricide for heartworms prior to shipping them over.  Veterinarians can discuss more about heartworms, treatment procedures, risks involved, etc. If dogs are certified free of heartworms, then they should be started on the heartworm preventative medication preferably at least one (1) month prior to entering the Northern Marianas.

Please be advised that one dog undergoing quarantine in our facility was stolen on or about 7 May 1983.  Two additional dogs were stolen on 14 January 1994. We cannot be responsible for this type of incident, so this is another risk that you have to assume yourself if you want your animal to be quarantined on Saipan.

We do not provide a 24-hour patient care to any animal that may get sick while in quarantine.  Instead, the sick animal must be referred to a local private veterinarian, or to a government-approved veterinary clinic or hospital in Guam or Honolulu at owner’s sole and total expense.  We are limited, too, on the type of patient care and clinical services (laboratory support, and both medical and surgical) that we provide, since we only have one attending clinician, and are operating on a very limited budget and manpower.

We are also enclosing a copy of our “Home Quarantine Agreement.”  If you are able to meet our requirements, conditions, rules and restrictions, your pet may qualify for the 60-day home quarantine (or 90 days) following a 60-day mandatory quarantine period (or 30 days) at our As Perdido Animal Quarantine Facility on Saipan.

The Home Quarantine mentioned above applies only to dogs and cats originating from the Mainland United States and Canada.  An additional $125.00 fee for the Home Quarantine is being assessed per owner. For the 90-day Home Quarantine, the fee is $200.00.

Ticks are also a big problem in the CNMI, including our kennel facility, so please bring with you enough supplies of tick medication or acaricides such as flea & tick powder, collars, shampoo, or topical “spot-on” medications such as Frontline-Plus, etc.  Ticks can also carry a blood parasite that can cause a disease condition called “Canine Ehrlichiosis,” which can cause a serious condition if the infected dog is not treated.

Dogs and cats over 6 months of age that were vaccinated for rabies at least twice, with the last two rabies immunizations dating not less than 30 days apart, with a FAVN test performed at least 30 days from the last rabies immunization with a titer of 0.5 IU/ml or greater, will not be quarantined.  They still must have a CNMI Import Permit, valid health certificate, and all the required immunizations listed on the entry permit, and treatment for external and internal parasites must be fully satisfied and completed. Each pet is required to have a microchip implant that is readible.

Quarantine? Stolen pets? FAVN? I know the first time I saw this letter I felt like my head was going to explode.

But remember I said there is good news? See that part I put in bold? This is good news!

If you have a dog that is over six months old and has had at least two rabies shot in their lives they can perform the FAVN test to check for rabies titers. If the blood test comes back with a titer of 0.5 IU/ml or greater, your pet can skip quarantine!

Now let me break this down for you:

Requirements for moving pets to Saipan

1. • Your pet must have current rabies immunizations.

1. • Your pet must have the following immunizations:
     Cats: Feline Distemper; Feline Leukemia; Feline Rhinotracheitis; Calicivirus; Feline Pneumonitis
     Dogs: Canine Distemper; Parvovirus; Infectious Canine Hepatitis; Leptospirosis; Parainfluenza; Bordetella bronchiseptica (kennel cough); Coronavirus

1. • Your pet must be microchipped.

1. • Your pet must be treated for parasites and have this certified by your vet within 10 days of your arrival in Saipan. My vet allowed me to bring Paco and Clarabelle’s monthly flea & tick meds/ heartworm meds to the office and watched me give them to the dogs. She then signed off that they were clear of parasites.

1. • Within ten days of your pet’s arrival to Saipan, your vet must do a full examination of your pet. When you call to make this appointment you will need to ask if the vet has a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for Travel (USDA APHIS Form 7001). THIS IS IMPORTANT.

I wasn’t told I needed to bring my own certificates to my vet’s office. When I arrived for the appointment the receptionist asked me for my certificates to be filled out by the vet, and I just looked at her like she had grown a second head. I didn’t have any because I wasn’t told I needed to get them myself. Thankfully, we got it straightened out, but it was blood pressure raising for a moment there. Save yourself the trouble and double-check if your vet’s office has these certificates because they are not that common outside of bigger cities.  I think these were around $150 for each dog, that’s not including the vet appointment, That price is subject to the vet’s office.

1. • If the pet can pass the FAVN titer test (0.5 IU/ml or greater), they can skip quarantine. The lab results must be MAILED (snail mail, not e-mail) to Dr. dela Cruz from the UDSA APHIS lab in Kansas. (note: your vet cannot send in these test results. They must come from the lab in Kansas.) Please be aware the mail is SLOW to get here. Usually 10 business days minimum.

1. • Once Dr. dela Cruz receives your pet’s lab results from the Kansas USDA lab, he will issue a CNMI Animal Entry Permit. He will email you and your vet a copy. You will need to make several copies for yourself, and each pet will need one for their carrier during travel.

1. 1. • If the FAVN test is not done, you must send Dr. dela Cruz a certified check or money order made out to “CNMI Treasurer” for the CNMI Pet Entry Permit. The fee is $25.00 per pet plus $50.00 deposit fee to reserve a kennel space for the 30-day quarantine. You must let Dr. dela Cruz know how many pets you plan to bring to Saipan, an accurate description of each animal must be submitted which needs to include the name, breed, color, weight, age, sex, and other pertinent information, and your state of origin should be included with payment. The payment should be sent to Dr. dela Cruz at the following address:

      Dr. Ignacio T. dela Cruz
      P. O. Box 500677
      Saipan, MP  96950
      email: cnmistatevet@gmail.com

As soon as payment is received, Dr. dela Cruz will have the permit processed, scanned and sent to you by email.  Upon receipt, you must download the permit and attach a copy to your pets’ health certificate.  Make an extra copy or two for yourselves as documents can get lost or misplaced during travel. (more about this below) Mail takes about 9 to 10 days or longer to reach Saipan from the Mainland, so please be aware of this. Your best bet is to use DHL or FedEx (not UPS) to get this delivered quickly.

1. 1. • Without the FAVN test, your pets will be quarantined for 30 days in the quarantine facility in As Perdido, followed by at least 30 days of home quarantine. The individual animal quarantine fee is $10.00 per day for dogs and $5.00 per day for cats. The fee is only for feeding, watering, and cleaning the kennels.  For the home quarantine, the fee is $125.00 total, regardless of the number of pets involved.

      I cannot stress strongly enough that you DO NOT want to send your pets to this facility. It is outdoors, exposed to the Saipan heat and rain, and the are boonie (local feral) dogs full of disease all around your pets. Do everything you can to skip quarantine.

Passing the FAVN/ Skipping Quarantine Tip

When we found out we were moving to Saipan, we hadn’t even had Clarabelle a year and she was just a puppy when we got her. She had only had one rabies shot by that point.

I called the vet the very day I found out we were moving to make an appointment for the next morning. She read over the FAVN rules online the night before which state pets must have had at least two rabies shots in their lifetimes, and the FAVN test cannot be administered within 30 days of the rabies shot. My vet advised me the next morning to go ahead and give Clarabelle another rabies shot that very day. This was less than 90 days after her first rabies shot, but the vet was not concerned. She assured me it was perfectly fine, and to her credit, Clarabelle suffered no ill effects from the double immunization.

She advised we come back 31 days later and perform the FAVN test on Clarabelle. We performed the test on Paco that day.

It took the lab in Kansas about two weeks to get the FAVN results back to us. Then they have to mail the results to Dr. dela Cruz, which can take several weeks to arrive. Once he gets these results he will issue an entry permit for each pet via email. Make at least five copies for each pet.

On day 31, I brought Clarabelle back in for her FAVN test. Her titers came back well above the minimum limit, and her permit was emailed to us.  If you have kept your pet’s shots current, passing the FAVN shouldn’t be a problem.

If you have a new pet that you’ve recently adopted and aren’t sure if they have had two rabies shots, it is safe to give a second rabies shot 30 days after your pet’s first rabies shot. Talk to your vet about your options, but as you see we had no issue getting Clarabelle cleared for travel.

It is more affordable to double dose the rabies than to perform the FAVN test on a pet whose health history you’re unsure of, wait two weeks for results, fail it, have to give the second rabies shot anyway, wait 31 days, pay for the FAVN again, and then wait another two weeks for the results. And then another two weeks for Dr. dela Cruz to get the test results from Kansas before he can issue you the permit.  You add on eight weeks to your timeline if you take a gamble and lose, which wasn’t an option for me.

From the time we found out we were moving to Saipan to the time I boarded the plane was just over 90 days. In all, it took about two months to get my pets ready for the move. That’s mostly because I have always stayed on top of their veterinary care, so it wasn’t much to get them ready to go.

If your pets aren’t being quarantined, you will need to make an appt with Dr. dela Cruz BEFORE your pets can be released to you from the airline carrier. This is to pay him the $25 per pet CNMI Pet Entry permit fee. If you arrive in Saipan before your pets like I did, you can arrange to meet Dr. dela Cruz at his office to pay (in cash). Otherwise, you will need to arrange to have someone on island pay for the entry permit (again, in cash) at Dr. dela Cruz’s office before you and your pets arrive.

Flying your pets to Saipan

I gave you the good news. Even though it was a lot to read, all of those steps above were the easy part. Now comes the hard part: Flying your pets to Saipan.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Toni Summers (@tspoon77)

It turns out that the very same year we decided to move to Saipan, United Airlines had several well-documented mishaps with pets on flights. This lead to a complete overhaul of United’s system to fly pets. Since United was the only option available to us in Saipan that allowed pets to fly, we had no other choice but to use them.

United required that pets be flown through a handling company. Since I already had my ticket booked before I found this out, I couldn’t fly with my pups. In the end, this saved a lot of money, because I would have needed to get hotel rooms in every city they had a layover in.

We used Animal Land Pet Movers (877-DOGSFLY) to move them, and I can’t say enough good things about the service they offer. They check-in with you every step of the way, and even will send pictures with updates daily so you can see your babies are safe.

In total, they had to spend three nights in kennels and it took five days for them to get from Knoxville, TN to us in Saipan. First, they were picked up from Knoxville and transported overnight to Atlanta, where they were flown to Houston. From there they had to be transported to a kennel in Houston for the night because they didn’t make a connecting flight that day. The next day the flew to Honolulu. Hawaii requires ALL pets entering Hawaii must spend one night in quarantine. The next day they were flown to Guam. This was where the service from Animal Land Pet Movers ended, and in total that cost $3495.  (Keep in mind, my pets weigh four pounds and twelve pounds. The heavier the pet, the more it will cost.)

Once they arrived in Guam, they were handed off to Harper Valley Kennels to take them for the night and then load them on the plane to us the next day. The total cost for that service was $330 total for both of my small dogs.

Pro Tip about Harper Valley Kennel:
Call the kennel the morning your pets are leaving Guam (before boarding) and check that all paperwork is attached to your pet’s kennel. They lost Paco’s paperwork and Customs at Saipan airport wouldn’t release him to us until Dr. dela Cruz cleared him. The vet was off island, so they tried to send Paco to the Animal Facility in As Perdidio for the night until the Dr came back the next day. I was having NONE of that. I called the Dr and he flew back from Tinian (the neighboring island) that night to clear them for release. It was a serious headache. Save yourself the trouble and call to double-check they have everything before they leave the kennel.

You will have a packet of paperwork attached to your dog’s kennel as they fly, that will include:

• CNMI Animal Entry Permit (we attached five copies for each dog just to be safe
• USDA APHIS Form 7001 US Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals- pink and yellow copies (I also attached three more photocopies)
• Pet’s most recent shot records with rabies and all required immunizations included.
• Rabies certificate
• Proof of parasite testing and treatment (this was included in my pet’s shot records)
• Microchip number must be recorded in the Health Examination form (USDA APHIS 7001)

Make sure you keep a copy of all of these records for yourself and bring them to the airport with you when you pick them up. Having that paperwork on me when they arrived in Saipan without Paco’s paperwork was the only reason I was allowed to sit in the Custom’s office with them and wait for the vet to come to clear them, versus them being sent to the kennels while we waited for the Dr.

To fly them over, you will need to check your airline’s requirements for kennel size. Also, that each…

a.) Kennel has two water dishes that clip to the inside of the door.

b.) Kennel has a ziplock bag of dry food at attached to the top of the kennel with feeding instructions included inside.

c.) Kennel has the nuts and bolts securing the sides all the way around. The nuts and bolts must be made of metal. No clips or slide/locking kennels are permitted.

d.) Kennel has bedding or absorbent material for the bottom.

e.) Kennel is made of a hard plastic top and SOLID bottom with ventilation holes only on the top portion. Metal door in front. No top doors or wheels permitted.

f.) Each pet can stand in a normal position when inside the crate with at least 3″ of open air space above their head and ears.

**No sedatives are permitted on the day of travel.

** No excess items such as leashes, household bowls, toys or medications can go along with them.

That seems like a lot to take in, right? I know how overwhelming it can be to read over at first, and the task can seem daunting. But, here we are nearly a year later, with several more years to go before we decide to toss our fate to the wind and move somewhere else. We have spent this last year with our babies here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Do you have any questions? DId I help answer your questions? If you can think of anything I might not have covered that you have questions about, feel free to ask me below in the comments!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I would love it if you would share!