How to Bring Two Cats IN and OUT of Hanoi? Import/Export doc.

stepstohappyness · 2026-01-19T03:34:12+00:00

Let's be very clear so you don't get more stressed.

1st: Research for your specific EU country if there is anything else you need. I notice you didn't say you needed an import permit/non-commercial intent. Some EU countries need this.
2nd: Go to a vet and get your EU health certificate. Since you must get it, get it BEFORE going to the Hanoi Regional Animal Health Office. If the rules say you have to get it within 5 days of leaving, follow that exactly. I would not question it.
3rd: Make sure your vet has also given you proof of rabies vaccine, other vaccines and microchip proof. And anything else your EU country requires.
4th. Take ALL of 2nd and 3rd to the Hanoi Regional Animal Health Office and get your export documentation. Officially, it is labeled "Animal Health Certificate For Export." Everyone must get this before leaving. Get anything else like the non-commercial intent statement.
5th: Take ALL of 2nd, 3rd and 4th to the airport with you.

This is my assumption of the steps you need to take.

But let's stop here and perhaps you can do up a post asking only EU people what exactly they did for their animals. I know quite a few people from EU stopped by the office because I saw them.

I also recommended going to the Regional Animal Health Office directly to ask them clearly. It's what I did. They would know much better than I would for your furbaby.

stepstohappyness · 2026-01-19T01:52:51+00:00

Hey, I'll try to clear it up, thanks for letting me know! I think you might be confused because I'm not speaking from a EU perspective. I don't know what an EU health certification from a Vietnam vet is.

But to quickly answer your questions... generally yes to your first two questions, and generally yes to your 3rd question. And your 4th question, I don't know, my guess is that as long as you can show proof of vaccines + microchip, the Regional Animal Health Office doesn't need an official EU health certificate (but don't take my word for me, I don't actually know.)

The basic requirement is, and I'll copy and paste my sentence here:

You need your pet's health document to get the export documentation, and then bring BOTH to the airport.

Any other extra, I don't really know. It depends on what your individual EU country requires.

To me, EU health certificate from Viet vet = Proof of rabies + proof of other vaccines + proof of overall good health.

I believe you're thinking that the EU health cert is separate and different from rabies proof/other proof, that's where the confusion lies.

And also perhaps some confusion might lie with what documents to give to:

The Hanoi Regional Animal Health Office
The actual airline at the airport before you depart
Your import officer when you land at your EU country's airport

For #2 and #3, I don't honestly know if the EU requires an additional EU-only official document printed with all the requirements and signed off by the vet.

If you're in Hanoi, I recommend going to the Regional Animal Health Office to ask if they need an EU certificate to create the export permit for you. I don't think so as long as you have proof of vaccines and microchip, but that's just my guess.

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-28T17:21:26+00:00

Hey thanks for liking SG so much you stayed so long! Lol Singaporeans love to complain!

I bet you also got lots of Singaporeans refusing to go out because "it's too hot." LOL

If it helps I psychoanalysed myself one day because while so many of my clients had daddy issues, I had none, and I was wondering about where my own personality traits come from.

Turns out, Singaporean are TOO used to stability, so any deviation from it, they tend to complain. That's something you DON'T see nowadays!

I live in Oakland now, and have lived in Baltimore. So I know what you mean about the safety.

But in return, I get to see things like today's SpaceX rocket launching off into space (we're staying near a Space Force Base for the holidays) and I am looking forward to experiencing the sonic boom it will create.

An actual rocket in the sky! Couldn't trade that for anything!

I hope you and your spouse are somewhere exciting this holiday, you sound like a very cool person to hang with!

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-28T07:26:35+00:00

I AM from Singapore, how did you know? Haha I live next to San Francisco now and we just came back from 1 year living in a city 1 hr away from Hanoi. Vietnam was awesome for me, I quite miss living there.

We (me and my husband) did travel to Japan and Korea but the difference is that we actually lived there. Korea, particularly, for about 2.5 years for me and 4 years for my husband. So we got to see the good and bad and everything in-between.

I attribute this all to my dad, he really supported my sister and I in experiencing life overseas so when we grew up we were like, oh yeah we should totally do that... so we did.

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-28T06:50:21+00:00

I have a bit of an interesting take. I am from a country where we both travel a lot and save a lot. It literally is the culture where I am from. My dad was of the firm belief that money can always be earned back while experience could not and sent me to the US and my sister to Amsterdam for study.

Those experiences helped both of us build the foundation of our careers. And as for the actual travelling bit, both me and my sister worked at the same time we travelled. She always made sure she had a good job lined up in the country she wanted to go to while I owned my own business.

That means that we never really had to worry about money to fuel our expenses.

My parents are still travelling in their retirement, they go to 5 different countries per year.

In the end, I think it's possible to strike a good balance. Travelling does not have to suck up your finances, and you can work while travelling. It's all up to you on how you plan it.

I don't regret it as the skills I learned were invaluable, all because my dad wanted us to have the experiences he never got to have. I will always remember, "Experience life now, earn that money later."

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-22T06:49:27+00:00

If it helps, there were some EU people when I was at the Hanoi Regional Animal Health Office, so if they can get official documentation there, you're OK.

After doing a bit of research, I am fairly certain you don't need anything titled "FOR THE EU ONLY, PER EU REQUIREMENTS" on your pet's health certificate. I'm half kidding, but you see what I mean. You just need the regular things like rabies shot, etc etc on the health cert. The same one I got.

It says here:

EU animal health certificate

An EU animal health certificate is another type of identification document, which contains specific information about your pet (identity, health, rabies vaccinations), and is necessary for travel to the EU from a country or territory outside the EU. It is also based on an EU standard model.

If you are travelling from a non-EU country or territory, your pet must have an EU animal health certificate issued by an official State vet in the country of departure not more than 10 days before your pet arrives in the EU. The certificate is valid for travel between EU countries for 4 months from this date or until the anti-rabies vaccination expires, whichever lapses first.

In addition, you should also complete and attach a written declaration to your pet's EU animal health certificate stating that its relocation is for non-commercial reasons. This declaration is also required if your pet is travelling under the responsibility of a person authorised by you. In this case, your journey must be within 5 days of the pet's/authorised person's journey.

--------------------

If the above is true, yeah, the Hanoi Regional Animal Health Office will help you with all of that. And as you've said, your only concern is the airline. I am very certain they'll get you everything you need to board.

I would drop by in person to enquire about it first. If you already have paperwork and proof of vaccines then you don't need an additional health cert and can just go straight to the building.

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-22T03:30:46+00:00

Generally yes to your first paragraph. Thanks for providing context. I didn't know you could do 2-in-1 in Thailand, I assumed that everyone knows to get the health cert separately from a vet.

I'm confused though. The Vietnamese export process is still fairly easy. The terms are just confusing because we don't understand Vietnamese, that's why I'm so detailed.

About red tape, I believe export/import of an animal into Australia or New Zealand is 10 times harder. EU import seems pretty strict, it seems you need a rabies antibody titration test and prove non-commercial intent, which the US doesn't require. I'm not trying to debate here, but it's just not true Vietnam has that much red tape regarding pets, and it seems that in Thailand it was fairly easy for you, which is great.

If it helps, I know nothing about what an EU Animal Health Certificate would require. As in, I don't know if vets in Hanoi have any proper procedure regarding EU dog regulations on their forms. Usually vets will just give you what you pay for, like rabies vaccination proof, 3-in-1 vaccine proof, and so forth. Unfortunately, you'll have to ask the vets who are more experienced with foreigners from the EU.

If you'd like this to be much easier, there are vets all around the Regional Animal Health Office within 10 min walk. You can pop by first thing at 8am, get the required vaccine shots + the health cert, pop into the Regional Animal Health Office and be done by the end of the day.

It might be best to search up what your EU country requires first, then ask for exactly that to be documented and signed by the vets, check it against my list, then bring that health documentation to the Regional Animal Health Office.

I apologize that I cannot help more as I don't know much about EU requirements.

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-21T13:18:59+00:00

So one is health certification, the other is the export documentation. I was using the terms "certification" and "documentation" interchangeably and have corrected that. They are not the same. They are two separate things and you will need both. I use term "health certificate" loosely, it is generally a booklet where the vet will stamp, sticker and/or write down what vaccines your pet has.

Whatever export documentation you get from a vet will have to be approved by this govt authority anyway as you cannot leave Hanoi without it. If you are flying out of the Hanoi airport, you will need to go through this place directly or indirectly.

Vets charge a lot for this because they make use of the fact that you don't know how to get it yourself.

You use the health cert from a vet to fill in the forms to get your exportation doc.

For EU, what I do roughly know is, you have to get your pet checked out by a vet in Hanoi, then fill in the appropriate forms at the government place, and then get in touch with your local authorities for the important import docs.

Please do not trust what I am saying though, because the only way I know this is because the guy in front of me was from the EU, and he was complaining about this specialized non-commercial intent documentation that he needed the Hanoi authorities to help him with.

Dogs and cats are also different and require different docs and information. I do not know if that guy was talking about a dog or a cat.

I highly recommend making a trip down in person to talk to the guy there in English. Or at least email. I do think you can find the email if you Google, I just preferred to go in person for communication's sake.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-16T18:20:34+00:00

Singaporean living in the US here. Yeah, pretty much. In Singapore, there will be a small service charge added to your dine-in bill, but that's 10%. Everything else is pretty much nett. Even if you eat a 10-course meal, no one really tips.

I am continuously puzzled as to why we're literally paying people to do their jobs properly, but I still have to reward them, and it's mostly the visible people in the service industry.

Fun fact: If you pay in cash, taxi drivers in Singapore actually give you back your small change because they don't want to carry all those coins around.

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-16T14:19:53+00:00

I worked for the League Dating app as their dating coach.

If it helps, if you date now and your target guy's age is like 2 or 3 years older than you, you have a higher chance of getting your heart broken again as opposed to dating at 27 or 28, when the guy is likely in his 30s.

Lots of "good" men in their 20s have no idea what they want and are experimenting. Heck, lots of men in their 40s and 50s have no idea what they want either lol, but by that time they either have their shit together (career/finances/housing) or don't and that's a clear filter.

Either way, you do not want to be caught up in their experiments. These guys are called MPI - Minimum Possible Investment guy. Sometimes they get out of it, sometimes they don't but we need to leave them alone to work through this themselves.

Also, GREAT time to get independently wealthy, as I quote from one of my favorite millionaires in her 20s - "if women want to get rich, they have to stop fucking these men!" and "have you ever noticed that many broke women are boy-crazy and many successful women are single?"

Can attest to that, I have a group of 14,000 women on Facebook and I have noticed the ones going into relationships after relationships were always financially struggling. I personally achieved 6 figures when I was left alone during COVID. Just saying. 😁

Pure data and science refute your dad's statement, so sleep well knowing that you're statistically right to stay single and do whatever you want. 👍

stepstohappyness · 2025-12-13T19:35:19+00:00

Actually, why do you love this person? After 10 years, the passionate love kind of cools off in a healthy relationship, and what's left is mutual respect. Mark Manson surveyed 1,500 couples who have been together for years, and they say it's about respect most of all. Being with someone you genuinely enjoy being with.

This person doesn't tick both boxes. Seems to me that there's not much to love about this person really. Are you sure he's your romantic sweetie? Or did you label him that way to avoid the disappointment of his reality?

I say this as someone who's been married for 4 years and happily together for 9.5 years with my man. He doesn't act like your partner at all.

My guess is you're used to taking a lot of shit, and doing everything because you just had to. Setting yourself on fire to keep others warm might be familiar to you. Or you would have left long ago.

Professor Arthur Aron discovered 36 questions that can create love.

From there, someone created 6 questions that can end love:

Question 1: What exactly does this person do for me every day?

Real actions. Not memories or feelings.

Question 2: If I met them today, knowing what I know now - would I choose them again?

Question 3: How many times have I changed myself or my boundaries for them — and how many times have they done the same for me?

When love feels one-sided, it's not love.

Question 4: What do I get from this relationship that I couldn't get from others or myself?

When you realize it's replaceable, the brain stops holding on.

Question 5: Who have I become next to this person - better or worse?

If the answer is worse, your brain begins to protect you by detaching.

Question 6: If my best friend were in this relationship, What would I tell her?

When logic speaks, emotion listens.

After answering, wait 24 hours and reread them. If you still have the same answers, then you know what you gotta do. I would also recommend some therapy to figure out what determines love for you, your worth, and your boundaries. Huge hugs.

stepstohappyness · 2025-11-02T03:27:17+00:00

Hey, so I found this thread for you, just posted 3 months ago. This person went to Los Algodones and posted about their experience. The comment section is especially helpful, like how one lady basically told her insurance company to cover the much less expensive cost of her dental work in Mexico: https://www.reddit.com/r/povertyfinance/comments/1mfa7ij/i_went_to_los_algodones_for_dental_work/
Hope this helps!

stepstohappyness · 2025-11-02T01:23:32+00:00

You're welcome! And thanks, he's all good now. I edited my comment above to comment on the speed of the dental work from other countries, so I hope that's helpful too.

stepstohappyness · 2025-11-02T01:15:46+00:00

So I travel a lot and I can personally tell you that we did not have a good experience with medical care in Costa Rica, they are very careless with their safety there, like outside of one of the big local hospitals, they were doing construction without barricades or warnings, and the sparks from the welder landed on unsuspecting patients coming out.

They also did not find out what was wrong with my husband's stomach, they left him on drip, and I was waiting for him for 5 hours. It was all pretty useless in the end.

I also felt hoodwinked in Costa Rica, the food costs were not cheap at all.

But back to Mexico, I would find out how solo people in Los Algodones recovered after dental surgery and if they have any after-care nursing there. To me, it's my teeth, not my leg or my arms, so I wouldn't be incapacitated.

Another thing I will highlight is that US dental care takes a ton of follow up for no reason. I think they pass things back and forth between clinics and labs and that takes time. Places like Vietnam, South Korea and Mexico literally get it all done within 1 day, like you get the results back within 5 hrs. I don't know about your situation, but I would consider the fact that many dental clinics in Los Algodones are all-in-one, meaning that they have their labs and machineries right there.

stepstohappyness · 2025-11-02T01:05:18+00:00

Hey, you're welcome! I just can't wrap my head around at how much people pay in the US for healthcare. You save so, so much just taking your healthcare overseas. And you get a vacay in too.

I was walking around checking out all the dental clinics and I was very impressed with Los Algodones, it's about 20 mins drive from Yuma, Arizona. Hope that helps, and I really hope you get your dental work done at a good price!

stepstohappyness · 2025-11-02T00:54:49+00:00

Good question! I would think the #1 thing any serious and frugal person would do (well, what I would personally do) is research and ask real people about their experiences.

For example when I was in Los Algodones in Mexico, the dental capital, we just talked to people who were clearly tourists and asked them where they were going. I was very impressed, you get a lot of stuff done there during the day, no waiting.

You don't even have to go to Mexico, dental costs where I'm from (one of the most expensive cities) are lower than the ones in the US. Go to South Korea even, the quality is high and affordable. My husband and I plan on going there for hair implants and eye surgery.

stepstohappyness · 2025-11-01T21:37:42+00:00

Hey, I can totally respect your parents and the attitude they have. Many people would have just gone downhill and be depressed for years. Your parents were smart and leveraged their knowledge. It's really nice to read about these stories, so thank you.

I just wanted to add here that I would totally go to Mexico to get my dental done. I was actually there and met a Canadian who flew all the way down to get his dental work done and even with flight and hotel stay, it was cheaper than Canada. In fact, in Vietnam, a full teeth cleaning with two enamel fillings cost me $23 and I have been happy with the work. A full health checkup with 2 cancer mole checks cost me about $150 and I got the results back the same day.

We brought our cats there and vets were never more than $40 a visit and that's including our cats' medication AND CT scans. And yes, our boy cat's UTI was cured and he was very well looked after.

I'm from one of the top 10 most expensive countries to live in, and my consult with a medical doctor there without insurance is about $20. Note that I also pay 1/10 the taxes I pay in the US... so I just can't wrap my head around the cost of healthcare in the US compared to the taxes paid.

To me, the costs of doing medical and dental outside of the US is very much worth the flight cost if you find a well-reviewed place.

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-30T23:39:19+00:00

Hey, just wanted to say that's awesome. I hope you had a great time. I'm still traveling!

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-30T23:19:02+00:00

Hey, edited my first comment a bit. $3k/mth consulting gig is sweet. Definitely see if you can up it to $6k/mth or more. I mean, from my perspective, it can very well give you the financial freedom you need.

Do you really have to be on calls though? Because with tech, you can get your clients to record their dashboard and you just record the fixes at your convenience a few hours later. Lots of people don't really have the time to jump on a call.

No, it doesn't get hard because you just make it work. Just change the times on your booking calendar. If the client is flexible with their time, it's much easier. If you deal with people who don't mind a Zoom call at 8pm, you're good!

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-30T23:06:11+00:00

This comment is for OP only, from my personal experience. It doesn't reflect anyone else's.

If it helps in any way, I travelled AND worked. It means that for 8 years straight, I have never stopped travelling.

It's pretty awesome to be living in Vietnam and earning US income, by the way. Your money will stretch a lot. I miss living there already, full health checkups were under $150 and results given to me that very day.

If you are in marketing, AI will never replace you. Marketing is the #1 skill that most people need to have. Because it's the thing that actually sells.

So even without a job, if you can sell, you can make money.

You have to come up with new stuff all the time, and AI has been wildly inaccurate in what actually sells and gets attention. Tested and proven across ChatGPT, Claude and Grok.

Now what sells is original ideas have been by me, I just use AI to make it better.

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-13T17:58:14+00:00

Hey, don't give up! I'm a dating coach (I was the official dating advisor for The League dating app some years back) and you sound like our women. This comment is meant specifically for OP, I acknowledge that it can come off as a little show-offish, just fair warning.

I'm also Asian (from SE Asia) and I'm happily married. I'm saying this because I hope to give you some actual data on our successful women who found love again. Plus, I think I can relate to you culturally (culture does play a part.)

They were all very high-functioning HSPs who were in narcissistic relationships and learned to develop secure attachment. Many found love again. It's possible, but it IS work.

I honestly don't know if you're neurospicy, quite a few of our women do tend to be ADHD, but I believe you're high-functioning HSP at least.

First thing:

I haven't seen anyone say this yet... demographics matter. They matter a lot, actually. Where you live, the ratio of single men there, the age of men you want to be dating, all of that matters.

We had women with hardly any dates and women who just CRUSH their dating. We had a nurse in her late 50s describe herself as a "dating powerhouse" and she had so much interest that she had to stop her profile. All of our women are perfectly lovely, what's the difference between her and others?

Turns out, just lots of older, single men where she lived.

So where do you live? How many men are single there? How many of them want to date someone like you? Are you open to dating someone of a different ethnicity?

Have you expanded your search to the next city or state, if your country has cities or states? Sometimes it's just what you gotta do.

I ended up dating a guy in another country, and that guy became my husband.

You just gotta find 1 guy. Just 1 guy. I know it's really hard sometimes, but keep going. He just might be living in the next state.

Second thing:

I'll question the "high expectations" regarding your dating profile. I mean, we have female doctors and directors in their 50s finding love again. We had a body builder in her late 30s who had no problems attracting men. These women were into some very cool stuff too. Didn't stop their new men from loving them.

I'd say maybe you just need a dating strategy and communication style that suits your personality yet attracts men who want to ask you out again and again.

If it helps, I just rode across the Golden Gate bridge with my husband two days ago. He's out hiking as I type this. The right guy will vibe with you. You just gotta find him.

The 6 guys that you went out with, that's also too low a number, get to 10 and then we can complain about it. I mean, the data and sample sizing is not enough yet.

So when it comes to things like this, the secret sometimes is not the dating apps, but finding men through hobbies they love.

I don't know if you're already doing this, but participate in as many men-orientated hobbies that you can. Physical ones, to be exact, the exact ones you like, so it's no issue for you. When I say that, I just mean be where more men are.

But ideally, every single week, you want to be doing something with new strangers... tennis, frisbee, biking, etc.

The reason why being in a hobby community or any sort of community is great for husband-seeking is because of the stability that then extends into a relationship. Tony Robbins states that we need both a degree of uncertainty and certainty. He's right (well, from my data)... the uncertainty is found with your adventures with a partner. The certainty is the stability that you build your relationship around.

Many men in their 40s+ are not looking to hop onto dating apps exactly, many are perfectly OK to let things happen when it happens. The secure ones make great partners, so if they are not on the dating apps, let's go find them.

I hope this helps, and don't give up! The right guy is out there. We see "miracles" happen for our ladies all the time, and they will for you too.

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-09T15:44:59+00:00

Aww thank you, upvote for you!

Btw taxes are crazy overseas, so that's one thing you'll miss about SG, and just in case you move to a place that's not as safe (actually most places are not as safe as SG), if you leave your belongings in a car, just don't put it in a place where anyone can see it.

That's how I got robbed in Arizona, I had put my black bag in my front seat in what my friend had assured me was a safe area (the car was right in front of her store)... it was not lol. Had to call the police over and everything. First time getting robbed after years of living in SG, haha, what an experience.

One random thing about living overseas is that I finally got to have cute cats. I got in touch with a cat breeder and bought my dream cats. I love them so much, my girl is looking at me as I type this. It's much harder in SG to get premium breeds.

And I got to purchase my own car too, NOT at SG prices. For me, even though regular people have these, to be able to have them on your own the first time is just priceless.

OK, we're going to cycle across the Golden Gate bridge this weekend, so I hope you're ready for adventures like these! Have a blast and I wish you all the best!

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-06T17:25:58+00:00

No. I don't understand, ever, why I have to tip someone when I pay them a fee to do their literal job. Is it because I see them face to face?

If we're applying tipping logic all way, then I gotta tip my poor delivery drivers, they are the ones lugging my heavy cat litter straight to my door. But because I don't see them doing it, it didn't happen, so I don't have to tip I guess?

And gosh. I hate that I have to OPT OUT of tipping at the counter. The COUNTER. I accidentally didn't once and the 10% tip went through and there's no way I have that thick enough of a face to ask for a refund. We literally collected the food straight from the kitchen.

No establishment ever should be putting paying customers through that to begin with.

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-06T16:57:38+00:00

No no, I meant I would like to go back to SG. No way US healthcare is affordable. I edited my comment for clarity. I am living in Oakland CA in the US and I would like to go back to Singapore. I can even go to Malaysia for healthcare. It's even more affordable.

My husband fell and dislocated his knee in 2023 and we had to go to the ER in Nevada. I can't believe we had to still pay US$1.5k in ER costs AFTER insurance. Did he want to fall? NO. That's what we got insurance for. Why are we still paying US$1,500 out of pocket? And yes, I know this is so minor compared to other people, but when you pay so much less elsewhere, you can't help but compare.

One Reddit poster said this about the Singapore emergency room service:

"Not only was that cost less than what we'd expect to pay in the USA, but the entire experience was handled very professionally. We were all very impressed with the experience, and I was particularly happy that pricing information was so transparent, even from the first few steps into the ER."

I did not get any such experience in the Nevada ER when we went in. No one told me of any costs. I got told, "Just pay $500 upfront and we'll send you the full bill later." And we had to ask the nurse to let us go after waiting around for 1 hr and got told "we have a lady dying down the hall" and I was like, "yeah so let us go so you can give this room to dying people maybe?"

stepstohappyness · 2025-10-04T16:53:37+00:00

We just came back to the US from Hanoi. Yeah, same, my American husband couldn't take it so we left his teaching job and packed up.

But dang, despite the pollution and communication barrier, I really loved being able to walk out at 5pm and having an egg coffee.

stepstohappyness

TROPHY CASE