My experience clearing custom at airport

ping pong · 27-07-2009, 12:09 PM

I am writing this post to share my experience to those pet owners who may be bringing their pet here.

So i started the journey by obtaining an import permit for my dog while I was here. Once I got it (5 days later) I had to fedex it to NY and give it to my friend to bring to the vet.

My dog was then taken to the vet (make sure your vet is USDA certified) no more than 14 days before arrival in hong kong (in continental case they needed no more than 10 days before). Because continental was full I ended up with Cathay. Once the vet has issued a health certificate and signed the certificate that the AFCP gave me, all these documents (along with all vaccinations records) are sent to the USDA in JFK to be certified. The certification only took 5 min.

Getting ready to depart - my dog was fed 5 hours before departure and given treats and toys. Water was also attached to the crate.
15 hours later, she arrived in HK.

I went to Super Terminal 1 (cargo terminal) to pick up her way bill document and her original health certificate that came with her. Once I paid the pick up fee HKD$53, I was instructed to go to level 1 to show that I paid in the pick up area.

I went to level 1 and showed my way bill document and my proof of payment to the designated pick up area. The guy took my number and asked me to go to AFCP to get more paperwork done. I went to AFCP who inspected her paper work. The guy from the pick up area brought my dog to AFCP and I was told to bring my paperwork to customs for further inspection. Both the dog and me went to customs and wait for a while.

Once customs stamped the paperwork, I had to go back to AFCP to get my dog inspected. Apparently my AVID is the wrong AVID chip ( 10 digit instead of 9 digit) and my dog had to be given a booster shot for rabies.

Once that is done, off I went... to go home...
How exhausting. Hope this helps those who are going to ship their pet here. All in all at the airport it took about 2 - 3 hours.

Good luck to all you.

dumbo · 27-07-2009, 04:47 PM

I flew my dog from the UK many years ago and it was still the old airport. I didin't have to pay a pick up fee and it actually took about an hour, only that I had to wait for my mum to come to the airport and so I had to wait a bit longer. I flew her back my myself and I went to the UK to fly with her on the same flight. I didn't even need to go back and forth at the airport at the time. I remember going to the cargo bay direct to show the staff the papers and then they got the dog out for me. They even helped me carry her crate for me to the AFCP as I wasn't allowed to let her out until she was checked. She wasn't microchiped and she didn't have a rabies injection until she arrived.

ping pong · 27-07-2009, 11:42 PM

this post is meant to be knowledge sharing... I had received tips from various people that were very helpful...so I wanted other people to know what I went through so that they will understand and know what to do. The three hours i specifically wrote is so that people can manage their time better when picking up their dogs.

It is not meant to be a complaint. Next time if you don't have nice thing to say... refrain from posting.

Originally Posted by Skyhook:

Only 3 hours ? Gao Choi ah ? You must be joking ?

Try and ship a dog to Australia and see how you handle your dog being placed into quarantine for the standard 30 days. Not to mention all of the paper work, blood tests and all its rabies shots etc up to date 6 months prior to being shipped, and $$$$'s of dollars worth of mucking around in the end.

3 hours sounds too easy to me, and absolutely no reason to be complaining, in my opinion.

Jenny68 · 23-10-2009, 08:48 PM

Hi to Ping Ping,
Just wanted to say thanks for the post, picking up the dog tomorrow now I know to bring drinks etc etc for the kids to keep them busy for the hurry up and wait. It's always nice to know beforehand.

jabalong · 21-12-2009, 12:23 PM

Thanks of the original poster for thoughtfully sharing their experience for the benefit of the others.

It's just a shame that some people feel the need to jump in and stir up trouble, with nothing of value to add to the discussion.

shri · 21-12-2009, 12:42 PM

cleaned up the thread ... guys .. lets be nice.

kittiyut · 16-02-2010, 09:49 AM

For those of you in the US whose thinking of bring their pets to HK, I highly recommend petmovers.com They are the best. I chose for them to do everything for me. All I have to do is take my dog to my vet to get health and vaccination certificate and have them endorsed by the USDA and of course pay for the service. I arrived in HK 2 days before my dog and I'm (as of writing this) waiting for my dog to be delivered in Causeway Bay. My dog flew Continental - the best for transporting pets. And for those who are wondering, I was charged less than 5K USD.