Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Austria → India
What the official rules ask for on this route, for a family pet travelling with its owner. Enter your travel date and your pet’s details to turn it into a dated checklist.
Limited official guidance. The authority for leaving Austria publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. The health ministry's page gives no deadline, fee or application route for the certificate. Vienna's city page adds a 10-day rule and online booking for Vienna only; other districts may differ, so ask your district's official vet.
Limited official guidance. The authority for entering India publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. AQCS's pages describe the Advance NOC timing in more than one way and don't mention a rabies blood test. Confirm the current rules and the Advance NOC deadline with your AQCS station before you apply.
How early to start
4 weeks
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
4 weeks
if it is already microchipped and vaccinated
Counted only from the officially fixed waiting periods. Vet, lab and paperwork appointment times are on top, so start earlier.
Headlines for India
- Import permit needed
- Quarantine
- Designated entry point
- Some origins not allowed
What your dog or cat needs
Paperwork
Qualify under the baggage rule
Show proof of at least two years' stay abroad and of transferring your residence to India (for example a visa copy), plus the owner's ticket. Sign a declaration that the pet is a bona fide pet with no commercial, gift or breeding purpose. If your pet comes as unaccompanied baggage, send a copy of your passport with the immigration stamp within one month of your arrival.
Details and the official words
“Proof of two years of stay abroad.”
“Proof of transferring residence to India”
“The declaration from the owner that the dog/cat is bonafide pet with no commercial interest, gift and breeding purpose.”
Vaccination
Rabies vaccination
Cats, and dogs three months old or older, must be vaccinated against rabies more than one month, but within 12 months, before embarkation. The details must be officially certified or written in the official health certificate, together with the other vaccinations.
Details and the official words
“must be vaccinated against Rabies more than one month, but within 12 months prior to actual embarkation”
Paperwork
Official health certificate from the country of origin
An official health certificate from the country of origin certifying that your pet shows no clinical signs of infectious and contagious diseases, including rabies, distemper, parvovirus and leptospirosis for a dog (distemper, feline enteritis, panleukopenia and leptospirosis for a cat). The owner's name on it must match the owner's ticket, and it must give the owner's name and address in the country of origin and in India.
Details and the official words
The page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be.
Certificate from your district's official vet (Amtstierarzt): The veterinary certificates you need for the trip are issued by the official vet of your district or city (Bezirk or Magistrat). Book the appointment early and take your pet, its EU pet passport and any form the destination requires.
In Vienna the certificate usually has to be issued within 10 days before travel (see the warning). The ministry's page gives no general deadline: the destination's own rule decides how recent the certificate must be.
“The official health certificate from the country of origin certifying that the dog is free from clinical sign and symptoms of all infectious and contagious diseases including Rabies, Canine Distemper, Parvo virus infection, Leptospirosis etc.”
“The name of owner in the official health certificate must match with the name as mentioned in the ticket of owner to establish ownership.”
“Für Reisen notwendige veterinärbehördliche Zertifikate stellt die Amtstierärztin bzw. der Amtstierarzt Ihres Bezirks bzw. Magistrats aus.”
Permit
Advance NOC from AQCS
Send AQCS the advance copies of your pet's health documents. AQCS issues an Advance NOC, which the airline needs before it lifts your pet: without it the pet is not allowed to board. The processing charge is INR 1,000 per application. AQCS's page says the Advance NOC can be issued within 7 days before arrival.
The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.
Details and the official words
AQCS publishes more than one description of the Advance NOC timing (a '7 days before arrival' wording here, other guidance elsewhere). Confirm the current deadline with your AQCS station.
If this is missed: Without the Advance NOC the pet will not be allowed to board the flight.
“Advance NOC can be issued within 7 days before arrival based on the self certified advance copies of all above documents.”
“Advance NOC if not presented to the airlines, the pet will not be allowed to board the flight.”
“The processing charges for an Advance NOC application for import of pets is Rs.1000 per application”
Route
Enter through one of six ports
Pets can enter India through Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore or Hyderabad. After arrival you bring your pet and the original health documents to the quarantine station.
Details and the official words
“Pet animals can enter India through the ports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.”
On arrival
Examination at the quarantine station
AQCS examines your pet and the original health certificate and issues a Provisional Quarantine Clearance Certificate. The original health certificate is kept by AQCS.
Details and the official words
“The animal(s) will be examined at the Quarantine Station for issuing a Provisional Quarantine Clearance Certificate.”
Quarantine
Quarantine observation if there is doubt
Pets under the baggage rule are not routinely quarantined, but AQCS can keep a pet under quarantine observation if in doubt. AQCS's page says final clearance will be issued after 30 days.
The official wording is ambiguous. Confirm this point with the authority.
Details and the official words
The page does not say whether the 30 days apply to every pet or only to those kept under observation.
“Pets under baggage can also be quarantined in case of doubt.”
“In case of doubt animal may be kept under Quarantine Observation. Final clearance will be issued after 30 days.”
Only in some cases
Official stamp · only in some cases
Authentication of the official vet's signature (Vidierung), if the destination asks
Some non-EU countries also want the central veterinary authorities to confirm that the official vet's signature is genuine. Only do this if your destination's rules ask for it.
Details and the official words
“Manche Drittstaaten verlangen zusätzlich eine Vidierung, das ist eine Bestätigung bzw. Beglaubigung der Echtheit der Unterschrift des Amtstierarztes bzw. der Amtstierärztin durch die zentralen Veterinärbehörden.”
Good to know
- These steps are for owners who move their residence to India with their pet under the baggage rule. A short visit, research, defence or police use, and anything else outside the baggage rule need a licence from DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade), which we don't cover. A pet that has left India before is treated as a re-import.
- No additional feed or bedding is allowed during the journey.
- AQCS says all notifications, rules, orders and procedures can change at any time and decisions follow the rules in force on the day you apply. Its pages also describe the Advance NOC process differently in places: check the current AQCS notice before you apply.
- AQCS's entry pages don't list a microchip requirement. It does advise microchipping for identification when pets leave India.
- The conditions for entering a non-EU country differ and change often. Find them early from the destination's embassy (its trade department) or its veterinary authority.
- Austria itself sets no extra conditions for leaving with a pet, for example no export quarantine. The destination's rules are what count.
- In Vienna the vet's health certificate usually has to be issued within 10 days before you travel, and only after you book an appointment online. Appointments sell out in the holiday season.
- Vaccinations, parasite treatments (for example against echinococcus) and titer tests must be done by your own vet before the official vet issues the certificate. Bring any form the destination requires, filled in as far as possible.
- To bring your pet back from most non-EU countries a rabies titer test is required. Austria says it is best done before you leave.
- Planning to bring your pet back to the EU? After a short stay in a non-EU country you can skip the 3-month wait after the rabies blood test, but only if, before you leave the EU, your pet was vaccinated against rabies, passed a successful titer test, and your vet recorded both in its EU pet passport. So do the blood test before you go.
Government fees we know of
- AQCS Advance NOC processing charge (per application)1000 INR
Vet, lab and courier costs are not included. The final amount can depend on how many tests or pets are on the certificate.
Common questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to go from Austria to India?
No. The official rules we have verified for this route don't ask for a rabies blood test.
Do I need an import permit to bring my dog or cat into India?
Yes: Send AQCS the advance copies of your pet's health documents.
Will my dog or cat be quarantined in India?
It can be: Pets under the baggage rule are not routinely quarantined, but AQCS can keep a pet under quarantine observation if in doubt.
Does my dog or cat need a microchip?
The official rules we have verified for this route don't list a microchip requirement.