Importing Your Pet to India
Difficult to importIndia admits pet dogs and cats through exactly six cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata, home to the Animal Quarantine and Certification Services (AQCS) stations. A nonstop flight to any other Indian airport, however convenient, cannot legally receive your pet. The legal basis is the Livestock Importation Act of 1898, amended in 2001, and the modern machinery is friendlier than its age suggests.
Eligibility splits on one question: are you transferring residence to India after two or more continuous years abroad? If yes, up to two pets travel as passenger baggage with no import licence, under a 2013 customs circular. If no (a shorter stay, a third pet, or a pet shipped unaccompanied), you need a DGFT import authorisation via Form ANF 2M, considered by a committee that meets monthly, so start about two months out.
Either way, the gate everyone passes through is the AQCS Advance No Objection Certificate: applied for at least 7 working days before departure, issued within one working day of a complete application, and completely free. Airlines will not board the pet without it.
Import Requirements
Microchip
Required (ISO 11784/11785), recorded on the health certificate and NOC application.
Rabies Vaccination
Required for pets three months or older: vaccinated more than one month and within 12 months before embarkation. The owner's name on the health certificate must match the air ticket exactly.
Titre Test
Not required. No titre test appears in the AQCS or DGFT requirements; vaccination is the standard.
Quarantine
No routine quarantine for healthy pets: the final NOC is issued at the port of entry after examination. Aqcs station quarantine (its sop says 15 days, its baggage-rule page says clearance after 30, so confirm) applies only to animals failing the physical exam or showing signs of disease, at the owner's cost.
Import Permit
Pet import is a restricted trade with one exemption. Transfer of residence: up to 2 cats or dogs as passenger baggage, no DGFT licence, for owners relocating after 2+ continuous years abroad. Everyone else needs a DGFT authorisation (Form ANF 2M, committee meets monthly, start 2 months ahead). Both routes also need the free AQCS Advance NOC before the airline will board the pet.
Health Certificate
Required in the AQCS Annexure format, signed by the origin country's competent veterinary authority, certifying freedom from clinical signs of rabies and listed diseases, with vaccination record, microchip certificate, ticket and passport copies.
Approved Entry Ports
Six cities only: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata, which host the AQCS quarantine stations. Pets cannot clear anywhere else.
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The Advance NOC, step by step
The application goes to the AQCS station at your entry city with the health certificate in India’s Annexure format signed by your origin country’s official vets, the vaccination and microchip records, the air ticket and passport copies, and transfer-of-residence proof where that route applies. AQCS commits to issuing the NOC within one working day of receiving a complete file, and charges nothing: India levies no fee for pet import or export NOCs.
The rabies vaccination must sit in a precise window at embarkation: more than one month old, less than twelve. And a detail that trips up more families than any other: the name on the health certificate must match the name on the air ticket exactly.
What actually happens on arrival
Despite what many guides claim, India does not quarantine healthy, compliant pets. The AQCS officials examine the animal at the port of entry and issue the final NOC on the spot. A quarantine stay at the AQCS station, extendable with testing at the owner’s cost, exists for animals that fail the physical examination or show signs of disease. AQCS’s own pages are inconsistent about how long: its standard operating procedure says 15 days, its baggage-rule page says final clearance after 30 days.
Book flights that land at one of the six permitted cities and, if connecting within India afterwards, complete AQCS clearance first. Cargo arrivals follow the same NOC logic, booked through licensed agents on carriers such as Gulf Air (cargo only, no brachycephalic breeds) and the Air India cargo network.
Routes to India
Frequently Asked Questions
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India
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Quarantine: No routine quarantine for healthy pets: the final NOC is issued at the port of entry after examination. Aqcs station quarantine (its sop says 15 days, its baggage-rule page says clearance after 30, so confirm) applies only to animals failing the physical exam or showing signs of disease, at the owner's cost.
- Code: IN