Pet travel route
Taking a dog or cat from Sweden → 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 Sweden publishes little for this route. Everything it does say is here, with its wording. Jordbruksverket says it usually does not know other countries' requirements and gives no fixed deadline or fee for the certificate: the destination's own rules decide, and an official vet in your area issues the certificate.
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.
Health certificate from an official vet in your area: Most often your dog or cat needs both a passport and at least one type of animal health certificate issued by an official vet. Once you know which certificates you need, contact an official vet near you to help you meet the conditions and have the certificates issued.
Jordbruksverket'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.”
“Oftast behöver hunden både pass och minst en typ av djurhälsointyg som utfärdas av en officiell veterinär.”
“Oftast behöver katten både pass och minst en typ av djurhälsointyg som utfärdas av en officiell veterinär.”
“När du har tagit reda på vilka intyg som du behöver ska du kontakta en officiell veterinär i ditt närområde för att få hjälp med att uppfylla villkoren och få intygen utfärdade.”
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.”
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.
- When your dog or cat travels to a country outside the EU, the rules of that country apply and they differ from country to country. It is your responsibility to find out what applies, to use the right certificate and to make sure the pet meets the rules. Contact the destination's veterinary authority or its embassy in Sweden in good time.
- If your pet travels with wrong or incomplete documents, the authorities of the destination decide what happens: it can be refused entry and sent back, put in quarantine at your cost, or in the worst case put down.
- Contact the destination's veterinary authority, ask for the requirements in writing, and ask whether it accepts Jordbruksverket's health certificate for dogs and cats. Ask about special certificates, sampling, deworming or other treatments (for example Norway requires deworming against the fox tapeworm). Use the right terms: the rules can differ for a holiday trip with the owner and a trip to change owner by sale, adoption or rehoming.
- Make sure your pet meets the rules for coming back to Sweden before you go. If a rabies antibody test is needed to return and its result is not in the passport before the trip, a dog may have to wait up to 4 months before it can come home.
- 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 Sweden 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.