There's no USDA endorsement office in California

There is no USDA endorsement office in California — it's all electronic now.

APHIS no longer runs any California endorsement office — no in-person or drop-off, in Los Angeles, El Segundo, or Sacramento. Your USDA-accredited California vet submits the pet health certificate electronically through VEHCS (USDA APHIS’s export system). Endorsement fees start at $101 per certificate.

The California endorsement offices are gone

If an older guide told you to drive a signed health certificate to a USDA office in South San Francisco (Oyster Point), El Segundo near LAX, or Sacramento, that advice is out of date. APHIS ended walk-in endorsement: “No in-person or drop-off services.” The old “endorsement offices by state” pages now redirect to a single national page.

There is no USDA endorsement counter in Los Angeles or San Francisco to visit. For a California pet export, the endorsement happens electronically. Here is how it actually works, what it costs, and how long to budget.

How a California pet gets endorsed: VEHCS

Your USDA-accredited California vet signs the destination-specific health certificate at the fitness-to-fly exam, then submits it through VEHCS (the USDA APHIS Veterinary Export Health Certification System). APHIS accepts electronic signatures for every destination country, so a California vet can issue for anywhere by VEHCS — no mailing required for most trips.

A few destinations still want the original ink-and-seal certificate. In that case the VEHCS submission must include a pre-paid express shipping label so APHIS can mail the endorsed paper certificate back. That paper work runs through one central office in Raleigh, North Carolina— not California. Which destinations still need paper is covered in our electronic vs. paper endorsement guide.

Questions about a pet endorsement go to the APHIS Veterinary Export Trade Services (VETS) Generalist Team at askvets@usda.gov. There is no published phone line for pet endorsement; routine VEHCS processing is staffed Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Central Time.

What the endorsement costs

APHIS charges by how many laboratory tests the certificate requires (rabies titers, etc.), per its published endorsement fee schedule:

0 tests— $101 per certificate (any number of pets on it)
1–2 tests— $160 for the first pet, plus $10 for each additional pet on the same certificate
3–6 tests— $206 first pet, plus $18 each additional
7+ tests— $275 first pet, plus $21 each additional

Vaccines are notcounted as tests when APHIS picks the tier. Service dogs for people with disabilities as defined by the ADA are exempt from the fee; emotional-support animals are not. The schedule is codified at 9 CFR 130.3(f); fees for a single shipment are capped at 12× the APHIS hourly rate ($166), and the full user-fee page lists the current numbers.

For VEHCS, payment is made by depositing funds into a VEHCS account or supplying a USDA APHIS User Fee Credit Account — credit and debit cards work only for certificates mailed for ink endorsement.

How long endorsement takes

APHIS publishes no fixed turnaround for endorsement. Its own guidance is that the whole pet-travel process — vaccines, tests, certificate, endorsement — can take a few weeks to many months, depending on the destination. Submit the certificate as early as the destination country’s validity window allows.

One practical catch: endorsement offices cannot confirm delivery or give status updates. You track progress through your accredited vet (who sees the VEHCS status) or a mail tracking number — not by calling APHIS.

So what does being in California actually get you?

Not a local endorsement office — those don’t exist anywhere now. What matters in California is finding a USDA-accredited vet who submits to VEHCS routinely (accreditation alone doesn’t mean international experience), and being close to the LAX/SFO cargo corridors. Start with our California USDA-accredited vet finder, and see the whole local picture on the pet export from California hub.

Pawvisa doesn’t submit VEHCS for you — your vet does. The free 60-second timeline check shows the endorsement window for your destination so you can time the vet exam, and the $29 readiness analysisincludes current fees for your destination plus the vet shortlist we checked for your ZIP. If you’d rather hand it off, the coordination concierge chases the endorsement on your behalf.

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APHIS — Working With an APHIS Endorsement Office — No in-person/drop-off; VEHCS for fastest processing; paper mailed to one central office in Raleigh, NC; askvets@usda.gov; staffed M–F 7:00–4:30 CT.
Source page last modified 2026-04-16 · Scraped 2026-07-11
APHIS — Cost To Endorse Your Pet's Health Certificate — Fee tiers: $101 (0 tests) / $160+$10 (1–2) / $206+$18 (3–6) / $275+$21 (7+). Vaccines are not tests; ADA service dogs exempt.
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APHIS — Using the Veterinary Export Health Certification System (VEHCS) — APHIS accepts electronic signatures from accredited vets for all destination countries.
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APHIS — Pet Travel Process Overview — VEHCS payment via VEHCS account or User Fee Credit Account; include a pre-paid express label if the destination will not accept the digital endorsement.
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APHIS — Veterinary Services Import/Export User Fees — Fee schedule codified at 9 CFR 130.3(f); hourly rate $166; capped at 12× the hourly rate per shipment.
Scraped 2026-07-11