when buying a puppy from the states would it be cheaper to have the optigen test done while he was still in the states or just the same price here.i thought perhaps because it has to be sent to the states then it might work out cheaper getting it done while he is still in america?

but would the KC recognise it?  I imported a dog from USA and had the optigen test done when he arrived with the KC as the body that they'll inform about the result (clear thankfully).  There does seem to be issues around imported dogs and tests - so it may be cheaper but it may not be easy.

The optigen test will be recognised by the KC, as it is the same one recognised by the KC.

I used a dog that was tested and his result is recorded in order for the litter to be recorded as Hereditary clear. 

A friend imported a puppy where both parents were Optigen tested clear and with copies of their certificates his KC reg shows him to be Hereditary clear.

So if the pups parents are both tested clear you need get the pup tested at all, just get copies of the sire and dams clear test certificates.

As has already been stated when the pup came to the UK and was registered over here then you can just send a COPY of the test results to the KC and they will be included at some point.

I imported my bitch from parents who were both registered as 'clear', (and I had copies of the certificates). The KC would not record my bitch as 'hereditary clear' unless I also could provide written statements from 'the owners of her sire and dam at the time of testing'. At the time her breeder could not get a reply from the sires owners in USA and so I had no option but to get her tested. She was 'clear'.

Two years later I used a Canadian bred stud dog on my bitch (his Optigen was done before he came to Europe), the KC accepted this no problem (e mailed a copy of the results) and so my litter were registered 'hereditary clear.

I did check with the KC before hand to make sure the dogs would be recorded properly. 

Yes I forgot that I did need permission from the stud and dams owners to say it was OK to record the Optigen results for KC records.