Bringing a dog or cat to Bahrain: official requirements

Entering Bahrain

What your pet needs

In the order you do them. Rules marked “Applies when” are only for some pets, origins or routes.

1. Get ready

   Weeks or months ahead: the steps with waiting periods, so start here.

   1. Vaccination

      Vaccinations, including rabies, complete before the permit

      Before it issues the permit, the Veterinary Quarantine Section checks your pet's vaccination booklet and that all required vaccinations are complete. The guide doesn't list the vaccinations or say how long before travel they must be given. Bahrain also asks for a rabies blood test, which is only meaningful for a pet vaccinated against rabies, so have your pet vaccinated against rabies and ask the section which other vaccinations it wants.

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

      Details and the official words

      Neither the ministry's guide nor Customs names rabies vaccination as such. We list it because the rabies blood test is asked for, and we mark it for confirmation.

      “والتأكد من دفتر التطعيمات”

      “وإكمال كافة التطعيمات المطلوبة”

   2. Blood test

      Rabies blood test (RANAT) certificate

      Your pet needs a rabies blood test (a rabies antibody neutralisation test, RANAT), and its certificate is shown on arrival with the health certificate. Neither the ministry nor Customs says what result is needed, which laboratory to use or how long before travel the blood sample must be taken: ask the Veterinary Quarantine Section before you book the test.

      Details and the official words

      “عند الوصول شهادة صحية حكومية وشهادة منشأ وشهادة فحص دم عن مرض السعار”

      “A blood test for rabies (RANAT)”

   3. Permit

      Cat or dog import permit from the Veterinary Quarantine Section

      Apply in person at the Veterinary Quarantine Section of the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture (you, or someone holding your power of attorney if you aren't in Bahrain). Bring a copy of your pet's vaccination booklet and a copy of your ID card. The section checks the booklet and that all required vaccinations are complete, then issues the permit. The fee is 5 Bahraini dinars for a personal import. The guide gives no processing time or validity period, so apply well before you travel.

      Details and the official words

      Cats and dogs are separate permits (services 112 and 113 in the ministry's guide). The guide doesn't say whether one permit covers several animals.

      Bahrain Customs says to contact the Veterinary Quarantine Section before importing a dog or cat. Email vetquarantine@mun.gov.bh or call +973 17987039 or 17987364.

      “تصريح إستيراد قطط”

      “تصريح إستيراد كلب”

      “يجب على صاحب الطلب الحضور إلى قسم المحاجر البيطرية لطلب إصدار تصريح إستيراد كلب”

      “نسخة من دفتر التطعيمات”

      “صورة من بطاقة الهوية وصورة من السجل التجاري أو توكيل عن الشخص المستورد في حال عدم تواجده”

      “5 دينار للشخصي”

      “To contact the Veterinary Quarries Department before importing”

      “vetquarantine@MUN.GOV.BH”

2. In the days before you travel

   Paperwork, treatments and stamps that must be recent when your pet travels.

   1. Paperwork

      Original government health certificate and certificate of origin

      Your pet arrives with an original government health certificate from the country it comes from and an original certificate of origin, together with the rabies blood test certificate. The pages don't say how recent the health certificate must be or what it must state.

      Details and the official words

      “عند الوصول شهادة صحية حكومية وشهادة منشأ وشهادة فحص دم عن مرض السعار”

      “Importing live animals (dogs and cats)”

      “An original government health certificate”

      “An original certificate of origin”

   2. Notice

      Tell the Veterinary Quarantine Section when your pet arrives

      Pets arriving with a traveller are controlled by the ministry's Veterinary Quarantine. Contact the section in advance and tell it the date and time of arrival, so the checks aren't delayed. No deadline is given.

      Details and the official words

      The Customs page still uses the ministry's older name (Ministry of Municipalities Affairs, Works and Urban Planning). Today it is the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture.

      If this is missed: If you haven't arranged it, Customs contacts the Veterinary Quarantine and you must wait until its representative arrives and completes the procedures.

      “Domestic animals accompanying the traveler are restricted and subject to the control of the Ministry of Municipalities Affairs, Works and Urban Planning - Veterinary Quarantine.”

      “The matter requires that the traveler or the importer coordinate in advance with the concerned parties in the regulatory authority and inform them of the date and time of arrival to prevent any delay in completing the necessary procedures.”

      “In the event that the traveler or the importer does not coordinate, the customs will contact the regulatory authority, and the traveler or importer must wait until the representative of the control authority arrives and finish the necessary procedures.”

Worked out from the rules

How long it takes from each country

For a pet coming from each country: the group Bahrain’s rules put it in, and the least time the official waiting periods allow. Tap a country for the full route.

Money

What it costs to enter Bahrain

Bahrain’s government fees, exactly as the official pages state them, and what the rules make you pay for.

Check first

When this doesn’t work

• Not covered by us yet

  When the pet is being sold, adopted or rehomed.

  Companies and imports for sale follow the commercial procedure (the permit is approved on the OFOQ customs system and costs 10 dinars instead of 5). We only cover pets imported by their owners.

Dogs

Restricted breeds

Bahrain Customs lists dog breeds that may not be imported, 'such as' Pit Bull, Mastiff, Tosa and Presa (Presa Canario). The list is given as examples, so check your dog's breed with the Veterinary Quarantine Section.

Notes

Good to know

• The Veterinary Quarantine Section only issues a cat or dog import permit for pets from countries that Bahrain allows them to be imported from. The list of countries isn't published: ask the section before you plan the trip.
• Pets arriving with a traveller are controlled by the ministry's Veterinary Quarantine. Once its checks are done, Customs prepares a simplified customs declaration to finish clearance.

Where this comes from

Official sources

Questions owners ask