Registering an Emotional Support Animal in Hawaii, Under HRS § 515-3

Hawaii is one of the states that writes emotional support animals into its own fair housing law. Since Act 154 took effect in November 2022, HRS § 515-3 defines an assistance animal to include one that provides emotional support for a disability, and names who can verify the need: a health care professional, a mental health professional, or a social worker.

Your certificate and wallet ESA Card go alongside that letter for the everyday moments; the letter is what your landlord evaluates. Hawaii sets no waiting period: it is not one of the four states with a 30-day law (California and Arkansas for emotional support dogs, Louisiana and Montana for any animal).

What Hawaii's 2022 law changed for assistance animals

• Emotional support counts. The statute's definition of an assistance animal covers an animal that provides emotional support easing one or more identified symptoms or effects of a disability, not only animals trained for tasks.
• Verification has a named source. A housing provider may verify the disability and the need through a health care professional, a mental health professional, or a social worker.
• The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission enforces it. The commission has long held that assistance animals, emotional support animals included, are a reasonable accommodation in housing, and publishes a fact sheet on it.

Moving an ESA to Hawaii means the regular pet import rules

Hawaii is rabies-free, and its quarantine rules have special provisions for service animals. Those provisions apply only to service animals, not to other assistance animals, according to the state's Disability and Communication Access Board, so an emotional support animal arriving from the mainland goes through the regular pet import program. Start that paperwork well before the move, because the letter that wins you the apartment doesn't shorten the animal's entry process.

How to get an ESA letter in Hawaii

1. Ask the clinician who already knows you. A Hawaii therapist, psychologist, social worker, nurse practitioner, or physician can often write the letter at a regular visit. Bring our free sample ESA letter so it confirms both the disability and the need.
2. No current provider? Get a real evaluation. Choose a clinician licensed in Hawaii who meets you live, by video or in person, and gives you a license number you can look up.
3. Students: use the campus process. University of Hawaii housing runs its own accommodation requests, so send the letter in with your housing application.

With your letter in hand, our instant registration kit takes about 3 minutes at /register: pet details and a photo, never a health question. It gives you a Certificate of Registration and a wallet ESA Card for the everyday moments, emailed as two print-ready documents. It goes beside your clinician's letter, never in place of it.

What the letter changes at a Hawaii rental

• No-pet buildings must consider your request. Under HRS § 515-3 and the FHA, a request backed by a qualified professional's verification is evaluated on its facts.
• Pet fees are often waived. Many landlords waive pet fees for an ESA with a clinician's letter; rules vary by state and building, so ask yours.
• Breed and weight limits often bend. Many landlords set aside breed and weight limits for an ESA with a clinician's letter; rules vary by state and building, so ask yours.
• Condos are covered too. Fair-housing duties reach condominium associations, not just traditional landlords.
• You still pay for damage. A waived pet fee doesn't waive responsibility for what your animal damages.

What a Hawaii landlord can and can't ask

When your disability or need isn't obvious, a housing provider may verify it through a health care professional, mental health professional, or social worker, and may confirm the professional's license. A provider may not demand your diagnosis or medical records, require the animal to perform, or apply a blanket rule instead of looking at your request. If a properly documented request is refused, answer in writing, cite HRS § 515-3 and the FHA, and keep every reply. The Hawaii Civil Rights Commission takes housing discrimination complaints, and the federal FHA allows a private lawsuit within two years.

No Hawaii ESA registry (and what a card is for)

Hawaii keeps no ESA registry, and neither does the federal government. An ESA has housing rights, not public-access rights: it can't come into restaurants or stores the way a trained service animal can, and since early 2021 ESAs fly as pets under each airline's pet policy.

The $39$59$79$99 Digital Kit covers one animal: a Certificate of Registration and a wallet ESA Card, sent as two print-ready documents, plus a listing at /verify, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The $69$89$109$129 Complete Kit adds both in print, posted to US addresses; the pricing page compares the two.