Taking a dog or cat out of Egypt: official requirements

Leaving Egypt

The steps

What the authorities in Egypt ask before your pet leaves, mostly the health certificate and who has to sign or endorse it.

1. CheckDogs only

   Dogs: Egyptian dog licence and GOVS identity card with the vaccination record

   A dog leaving Egypt must be licensed and vaccinated against rabies, and must travel with an animal identity card approved by GOVS that lists its vaccinations. You apply for the licence and card at your local veterinary unit (with the owner's name, ID card or national number and address, and the dog's breed, description and where it came from); it is issued once the vet has examined the dog, the dog has been vaccinated against rabies and the fee has been paid.

   The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.

   Details and the official words

   GOVS's licence service is titled for 2023 and doesn't give the fee or say whether a dog brought to Egypt from abroad needs an Egyptian licence before it leaves again: ask the veterinary unit.

   “ان تكون الكلاب المزمع تصديرها مرخصة ومحصنة ضد مرض السعار”

   “ان يصاحب كل حيوان معد للتصدير بطاقة تعريف الحيوان معتمدة من الهيئة العامة للخدمات البيطرية وتشمل برنامج التحصينات الخاصة به”

   “تقديم طلب لطبيب الوحدة البيطرية بالرغبة فى ترخيص كلب واستخراج بطاقة له”

   “تقدم الخدمة فور توقيع الكشف الطبى على الحيوان وتسديد الرسوم المقررة واجراء التحصين ضد مرض السعار”

2. IdentificationDogs only

   Dogs: microchip with the dog's details

   Your dog must have a microchip carrying its details (species, age, sex and so on).

   The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.

   Details and the official words

   GOVS's sheet also asks for the details of the exporting company on the microchip record, which is written for commercial exports: ask GOVS what it records for an owner travelling with their own dog.

   “تركيب مايكرو شيب يحمل البيانات الخاصة بالحيوان”

   “فضلا عن البيانات الخاصة بالشركة المصدرة”

3. VaccinationDogs only

   Dogs: rabies vaccination

   Your dog must be vaccinated against rabies before it leaves Egypt.

   Details and the official words

   “ان تكون الكلاب المزمع تصديرها مرخصة ومحصنة ضد مرض السعار”

4. Blood testDogs only

   Dogs: rabies antibody test at the Animal Health Research Institute (Dokki), at least 15 days after the vaccination

   Egypt asks for a laboratory test of your dog's rabies antibody level, done no sooner than 15 days after the rabies vaccination, with a certificate approved by the Animal Health Research Institute in Dokki (which tests the rabies antibodies of pets being exported). This applies even if your destination doesn't ask for a blood test; if it does, also follow its own rules (some, such as the EU, need the sample at least 30 days after the vaccination and only accept approved laboratories).

   The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.

   Details and the official words

   GOVS gives no minimum antibody level and doesn't say how long the result stays valid; and because the sheet is written partly for exporting companies, ask GOVS whether it applies to an owner travelling with their own dog.

   “مع اجراء تحليل معملى لقياس المستوى المناعى للسعار فى مدة لاتقل عن خمسة عشر يوما من تاريخ التحصين بشهادة معتمدة من معهد بحوث صحة الحيوان بالدقى”

   “الكشف عن الاجسام المناعية لمرض السعار للحيوانات المنزلية المصدرة والمستوردة واثبات نسبة كفاءة اللقاح”

5. Official stampDogs only

   Dogs: GOVS inspection and export approval

   Ask GOVS for an inspection of your dog for export ('طلب معاينة لتصدير كلاب'). Once Egypt's quarantine conditions and your destination's requirements are met, GOVS gives the export approval that goes with your dog's health certificate. GOVS doesn't publish a lead time or a fee: apply early.

   The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.

   Details and the official words

   The service is run by GOVS's General Administration for Public Health and Zoonoses. It doesn't say where to apply (the airport veterinary quarantine or GOVS in Dokki), how long it takes or how long the approval is valid.

   “طلب معاينة لتصدير كلاب (حراسة- زينة) للخارج”

   “استيفاء الشروط المحجرية والموافقة التصديرية من جمهورية مصر العربية”

From the rule file

When each step happens

The timing rules for each step, in plain words. The planner turns them into dates for your flight.

• Dogs: rabies antibody test at the Animal Health Research Institute (Dokki), at least 15 days after the vaccination

  • At least 15 days after the rabies vaccination

Worked out from the rules

Where you can go from Egypt, and how long it takes

How each destination we cover treats pets from Egypt, as its authority names the group, and the least time its official waits allow. Tap a destination for the full route.

Money

What it costs to leave Egypt

Egypt’s government fees for a pet leaving, exactly as the official pages state them, and what vets and labs in Egypt publish. The destination’s own fees come on top: they are in the table above and on each route.

Notes

Good to know

• Cats onlyGOVS's service guide has an export service for dogs only and says nothing about taking a cat out of Egypt. Ask GOVS's veterinary quarantine (at the airport or in Dokki) which certificate and approval a cat needs before you plan the dates.
• GOVS issues the export approval only once your pet meets Egypt's quarantine conditions and the requirements of the country it is going to, so find out first what your destination asks for (vaccinations, blood test, import permit, certificate model).

Where this comes from

Official sources

Questions owners ask