Documentation from outside the United States
Answers
It will not work as documentation here, and it is still useful as history.
Why it does not carry
A housing provider is entitled to reliable documentation, and reliability comes from a licensed professional accountable to a board the provider can check. A clinician licensed in another country is not licensed to practise where you live, which is the same reason an out-of-state letter fails, only more so.
What it is still good for
- Establishing history. A US clinician assessing you can take into account that you have been under care and that the animal has been part of it for years.
- Shortening the assessment, because you arrive with a picture rather than a blank form.
- Supporting the second half of the test, which is what the animal actually does, and which is easier to describe with a long track record.
What to do on arrival
- Find a clinician licensed in the state you are moving to, and bring the existing documentation.
- If you are moving to Arkansas, California, Iowa, Louisiana or Montana, start early: those states require a clinical relationship of at least thirty days.
- Deal with import and quarantine rules separately. Those are about bringing the animal into the country and have nothing to do with housing.
Other countries do not generally have an equivalent of the US assistance animal framework, so a document from abroad often is not the same kind of document at all, even leaving licensure aside.
Common questions
- I am here on a visa. Does that matter?
- Not to the Fair Housing Act, which protects people rather than citizens. Immigration status is not part of the accommodation analysis.