The main consideration for our timeline to move to Denmark has revolved around the cats–there’s a whole process of getting a health certificate with a 10-day window that dictates a lot of other things, like flight schedules.
You take the cat in for an examination, the vet sends off information in an application to the USDA, and they issue a health certificate. In the EU’s case, they want a physical, ink-signed physical certificate so you also have to arrange for the USDA to overnight the paperwork back to you. You then have to arrive within 10 days to legally enter the EU with the cat. This set the constraints: you schedule a vet visit 10 days out from your arrival in the EU and then wait for FedEx.
This process went fine for the boys. We had our vet appointment on Sept. 2, they sent in the information, the certificate was approved on the 8th, we received it via FedEx overnight on the 9th, and flew out the 11th so that we could arrive in the EU on the 12th, within the 10-day window.
Rudy did the same for Choco, but Choco’s certificate did not arrive in time (and we are, as of right now, still waiting on it). Rudy is currently stuck in Monterey and her trip is in limbo. To say that this has entirely f***ed our travel plans is an understatement since she technically starts her job on Thursday. She’s also been steadily giving away the last bits of our stuff–she literally has an empty apartment with Choco, a koutatsu, some instant coffee, and cat food.
The other frustrating thing is there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on when the 10-day window starts. The vets we talked to say it’s 10 days from the vet visit, in which case Rudy has to re-start the whole process and will be stuck in Monterey for probably another two weeks. However, the USDA (and EU sites) say it’s 10 days from when the certificate is issued. So best case scenario is that the certificate is approved Monday, Rudy gets it Tuesday, flies out Wednesday morning, and joins me in Denmark on Thursday the 1st.
The frustration is that we simply don’t know. The USDA won’t (or can’t) answer questions about applications and where they are in the approval pipeline. We’ve already had the vet try and followup with them, to the same effect. So we’re left waiting, and trying to re-schedule around a certificate that we have no idea when it’s coming.
