In plain terms:

• Build Your Own — from $59.98 Y1 ($29.99 Digital Animal ID + $29.99 Annual registration). Lifetime alternative $108.98 one-time. Pick only the items you want.
• Essential — $89 Y1 (defaults to Annual; lifetime toggle adds $50 at checkout for $139 one-time).
• Classic — $149 Y1 (defaults to Annual; lifetime toggle adds $50 at checkout for $199 one-time).
• Premium — $219 SD/PSD · $209 ESA. Lifetime only — no annual renewal ever.
• Elite — $349 SD/PSD · $299 ESA. Lifetime only, full gear kit.

Premium and Elite have ESA variants because those tiers drop the DOT Airline Transportation Form (Elite also swaps the red service-dog leash for a blue ESA leash) — ESAs don't have ACAA rights, so the form isn't useful.

Because the bundles contain different items. The Service Dog and Psychiatric Service Dog versions of Premium and Elite include a DOT Airline Transportation Form — a document Transportation Security regulations recognize for in-cabin service-dog travel. ESAs don't qualify for in-cabin ACAA protection, so including that form would be misleading. We take it out and discount the package accordingly.

Elite also swaps the red service-dog leash for a blue ESA leash, which is priced lower on our supplier invoice.

No. The price on the package page is what you pay at checkout. There are no setup fees, processing fees, or mandatory subscriptions. Two optional add-ons exist:

• Monthly subscription — Basic ($2.99/mo) or Pro ($4.99/mo). Unlocks Apple and Google Wallet passes, free profile edits, and priority support. Purely optional; you can cancel anytime.
• À la carte gear — extra tags, spare ID cards, harnesses, etc. You can buy these from the Shop anytime after registering.

Yes — 15% off when you register three or more animals together under the same account. The discount is applied manually so the automation doesn't misidentify unrelated back-to-back registrations; email the address on your first receipt after you've paid for the first animal and we'll apply it to the subsequent two.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. All payments are processed by Stripe; we never see, store, or have access to your card number. Checkout pages use end-to-end TLS and card data is tokenized before it leaves your browser.

We operate on a replacement guarantee, not a refund policy. If your order doesn't arrive, arrives damaged, or contains an error we caused, we replace the affected items at no cost. That's the primary remedy.

We chose replacement over refund because it's honest — registration is a documentation service, and once we've generated the documents and issued a registration number, the work is done. Refunding the registration fee after someone's carried around the ID card for three months isn't reasonable; replacing a lost or damaged card without argument is.

For gear problems (damaged harness, torn tag, cracked ID card), open a request from the Replacements tab in your dashboard. Low-value items — ID cards, tags, luggage tags — auto-approve instantly; higher-value items (harness, collar, leash) get human review within 1 business day.

Sign in, open the Replacements tab in your dashboard, and click "New request." You'll pick a reason (didn't arrive / damaged in transit / lost in transit / USSAR error / defective / other), check the items that need replacing, describe what happened, and optionally attach up to 5 photos.

Transit issues on low-value items (Animal ID, tags, certificate, letters) auto-approve at submission. Expensive items (harness, collar, leash) and "USSAR error" or "defective item" reasons route to staff for human review — we'll respond within 1 business day, usually same day during business hours.

USPS delivery windows for First-Class Package are 2–5 business days domestic. If your tracking hasn't updated in 7+ days, or delivery was attempted to the wrong address, file a Replacement request with reason "didn't arrive." We'll reship without asking you to chase the first package — that's USPS's problem to untangle, not yours.

Yes. Every field on your registration is editable from the Profile tab in your dashboard. Edits cost $4.99 each for one-time registration holders (it covers reissuing the updated ID card and regenerating PDFs), or they're unlimited and free with the monthly subscription.

If the mistake was ours — a typo we introduced during fulfillment, a misspelled name on a printed ID — file a Replacement request with reason "USSAR error." We fix it at no cost.

Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog (or, under a separate narrow provision, a miniature horse) that has been individually trained to perform tasks directly related to a person's disability. All three elements must be present.

"Tasks directly related to a disability" is a technical phrase — it means the dog does something concrete the handler couldn't do alone. Guiding a blind handler, alerting to blood-sugar changes, retrieving dropped objects, interrupting self-harm behavior — these are tasks. Providing emotional comfort by being present is not a task under ADA service-animal rules (it's valuable, but it's what defines an ESA, not a service animal).

Two criteria, both required:

• You have a disability — a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity (ADA definition; a formal diagnosis is not strictly required by the ADA but is usually how this is established).
• The dog is task-trained — it performs specific, repeatable work directly related to your disability.

The ADA does not require professional training — owner-trained service dogs are fully protected. It does require actual training; a dog that just "knows you're stressed" without a specific task isn't a service animal under the ADA.

Exactly two questions, from federal regulation:

• Is the dog a service animal required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

Businesses cannot ask about your disability, demand medical documentation, require proof of training, ask the dog to perform the task, or require an ID or vest. If staff refuse access after you've answered the two questions, that's an ADA violation — see our ADA Resources page for enforcement options.

Under federal law:

• ADA Titles II & III — access to public accommodations: restaurants, stores, hotels, government offices, most places open to the public.
• Fair Housing Act — access to no-pet housing, no pet fees, no breed or size restrictions.
• Air Carrier Access Act — in-cabin air travel on U.S. carriers with the DOT Transportation Form.
• ADA Title I — reasonable workplace accommodations (employer-dependent).

Service dogs must remain under the handler's control and may be excluded if they're out of control, not housebroken, or pose a direct threat. See the Public Access page for the behavior standards.

A PSD is a service dog specifically trained to perform tasks related to a psychiatric or emotional disability. Examples of trained tasks:

• Interrupting panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, or dissociative episodes
• Deep pressure therapy on cue
• Alerting to rising anxiety, PTSD flashbacks, or early-onset panic symptoms
• Grounding the handler in crowded or triggering environments
• Medication reminders or waking the handler from night terrors
• Creating physical space in crowds for agoraphobic handlers

PSDs have the same ADA status as any other service dog — full public access under Titles II and III.

Task training. A PSD is individually trained to perform specific, repeatable tasks related to a psychiatric disability. An ESA provides support through companionship alone. The ADA draws a bright line on that distinction: tasks = service dog, companionship alone = ESA, no public access for the latter.

Both can help with the same underlying condition. But the legal status, the rights, and the access are different because the definition hinges on whether the dog has been taught to do something.

Identical to any other ADA service dog: public access under Titles II and III, housing under the FHA, in-cabin air travel with the DOT form, and workplace accommodations under ADA Title I. A PSD is a service dog — the "psychiatric" qualifier names the disability category, not a separate legal class.

Yes. The ADA does not require professional training for any service dog, including psychiatric service dogs. Owner-training is common and fully protected by federal law.

That said — PSDs are working animals that must pass the same behavior standards as any service dog (calm in public, not reactive, fully housebroken, responsive to handler, able to perform tasks reliably). See the Public Access page for the 12-component evaluation handlers use to confirm their dog is ready.

We're a private documentation service, not a government authority — and to be clear, no government-run service dog registry exists in the United States. The DOJ has confirmed this in its ADA FAQ.

What makes a registry "legitimate" in our view: it tells the truth about what it is and isn't, its documents match what federal law actually recognizes (the DOT form, an ESA letter, a reasonable-accommodation request), its verification is real (a live URL, not a printable badge), and its customer service is staffed by humans. We meet those standards.

Registries that claim to issue "federally certified" IDs, "legally mandatory" certifications, or "ADA licenses" are misrepresenting what they sell. See our Avoid Scams page for the pattern to watch for.

After you register and activate a Basic or Pro monthly subscription, your dashboard has two buttons: "Add to Apple Wallet" and "Add to Google Wallet." Click either; your phone installs a pass containing your animal's photo, registration number, type, handler name, and a live QR verification link.

Wallet passes update automatically when you edit your profile — change your photo and the pass on your phone updates within seconds. The QR scans to our public verification page, which shows current registration status in real time.

Wallet passes require an active monthly subscription because Apple and Google bill us per active pass on a rolling monthly basis. The monthly sub is how we pass that cost through directly rather than bake it into the one-time price for everyone whether they want the feature or not.

Every registration has a public verification URL: usserviceanimalregistrar.org/verify/?reg=US-SAR-XXXXXXXXX. Anyone with the registration number can paste it (or scan the QR on your ID card) to see the animal's name, photo, type, handler name, state, and current status.

We deliberately show limited data — not your address, phone number, or disability. Landlords, gate agents, and retail staff only need to confirm the registration is real and active, not read your medical history.

Try it at the Verify page.

We collect the information you type into the registration form (name, email, address for shipping, animal details, photo, and signature), your payment method metadata from Stripe (never the card number itself), and access logs for the dashboard.

We do not sell, rent, or share handler data with advertisers, data brokers, or third parties. Photos and signatures are stored in Google Cloud Storage under a dedicated bucket. See the Privacy Policy for the full disclosure.

No. Everything on this site is general information about how the ADA, FHA, and ACAA work in practice — written to be accurate and footnoted where possible. It is not legal advice about your specific situation. If you're facing a discrimination complaint, an eviction, or an enforcement action, consult a licensed attorney who practices disability-rights law in your state. ADA.gov maintains an information line at 1-800-514-0301 for general questions.

Yes, occasionally. When we do, existing registrations are grandfathered — if you bought a lifetime registration in 2019, it's still lifetime, no matter what the current price list says. If we change the renewal price on annual registrations, active subscribers get 30 days' notice by email before the new rate applies. We don't pull the rug out on people who've already paid.