Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Ireland → 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 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
9 weeks
if your pet has no microchip or rabies vaccination yet (the least time the official waiting periods allow)
9 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.
Government stamp and signature from your Regional Veterinary Office: The most likely scenario: you and your private vet prepare the pet (vaccinations, blood tests and so on) and fill in the health certificate the destination asks for, then you bring it to your local Regional Veterinary Office for a government stamp and signature.
DAFM's page gives no deadline for how recent the certificate must be: the destination's own requirements decide.
“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.”
“The most likely scenario is that you and your private vet will prepare the pet (vaccinations, blood tests etc.) and provide a health certificate, that you can then bring to your local Regional Veterinary Office to get a government stamp and signature”
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.”
Notice
Contact your Regional Veterinary Office at least 2 months before you travel
Contact your Regional Veterinary Office at least 2 months before the trip so it can certify the documents. The department may not be able to sign your pet's documents if you contact it later.
Details and the official words
“make sure you plan well in advance and contact the Regional Veterinary Office at least 2 months in advance of travel to ensure that necessary documentation can be certified by department officials”
“The department may not be able to sign documentation for your pet to travel if you have not contacted your Regional Veterinary Office at least two months in advance of travel with your pet.”
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.
- Ireland does not keep the entry (certification) requirements of other countries: contact the destination country for them, then follow its instructions for the health certificate. Allow enough time for any required tests.
- No tapeworm treatment is needed to leave Ireland. A dog needs the treatment from a vet abroad before it returns to Ireland.
- Make sure your pet qualifies to return to Ireland: the same rules apply to re-enter from a non-EU country whether the pet usually lives there or is an Irish pet that was there briefly on holiday.
- 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 Ireland 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.