10 days or 30 days at Mickleham: the AUD 1,120 decision

Last verified: 2026-08-25

Side by side

Both figures are the department’s estimates for importing one cat or dog, covering government charges rather than flights, agents or veterinary fees. Extra parasite treatments, veterinary care, an extended stay or testing on suspicion of disease push them up. Partial payment is due at booking, and the account must be settled in full before your animal is released.

What actually qualifies you for 10 days

Two routes, and only two:

1. Evidence of Australian origin — an Australian export certificate, for a pet returning home. In Great Britain this route explicitly replaces the OV66 process.
2. Identity verification by the competent authority, carried out before the RNAT testing.

The permit application must carry the proof: either the endorsed official identity declaration or the Australian export certificate — and your pet must be identifiable by the microchip listed on that document.

What it looks like in each corridor

• United States: two USDA-accredited veterinarians at different clinics, each photographing the pet with the microchip scanner and number visible, then a third VEHCS submission where USDA compiles the declaration. Complete it and the pet is eligible for 10 days; fail to meet it fully and it is 30.
• Great Britain: two OV66-authorised OVs at unassociated practices, each emailing their declaration to DAFF from their registered address. Available since 4 November 2024 — before that, British pets served 30 days unless they qualified as returning Australians.
• Canada: CFIA references an identification declaration “if issued” without documenting how an owner obtains one. This site has not resolved that, so a Canadian owner should assume 30 days until CFIA confirms otherwise.

The point of no return

The identity check must happen before the RNATT blood is drawn, and cannot share a visit with it. Once that blood is drawn, the decision is made for this test cycle.

What you cannot do afterwards:

• You cannot add the check later. In Great Britain, DAFF cannot recognise an OV66 check completed after the blood sample was collected.
• You cannot convert the permit. A permit granted for 30 days cannot be changed to a 10-day permit without meeting the requirements.
• You cannot substitute other evidence. Not a pet passport — Australia does not accept them for import at all — not a vaccination card, not a microchip certificate, and not a microchip scan taken during the RNATT visit.

Restarting is possible, and it costs six months. Redo the identity verification and the earlier RNATT becomes invalid; the 180-day wait begins again from the new sample’s arrival at the laboratory.

So is it worth restarting?

That is the honest question for anyone who has already drawn blood without an identity check, and the arithmetic is simple enough to do yourself:

• Restarting buys about AUD 1,120 and costs roughly six months, plus a second RNATT and the extra veterinary visits.
• Not restarting costs the AUD 1,120 and twenty extra days of your animal in a facility.

For most people whose move has a date attached, accepting 30 days is the rational choice. For anyone at the very start of planning, the identity check is close to free — it is one extra appointment, correctly ordered.

That asymmetry is the whole argument for planning the sequence before booking anything.

What this page does not compare

• The experience of 10 versus 30 days for the animal.
• Facility availability, which may differ between the two lengths.
• Whether a stay can be extended — it can, on health or biosecurity grounds, at your cost.