Pet Transport from Nepal to India

This is the route where the map misleads people most.

Nepalis and Indians cross the land border with minimal formality, and owners reasonably assume a dog in the back of the car falls under the same arrangement. It does not. India clears imported pets through the Animal Quarantine and Certification Service, and AQCS operates at six airports: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata. There is no land crossing on that list.

So a journey of a few hundred kilometres becomes an air move with a permit behind it. The compensations are real: no rabies antibody test, and no routine quarantine for a healthy animal.

The requirement list is shorter than most people expect.

A microchip, recorded on the health certificate and the NOC application. A rabies vaccination for any animal three months or older, given more than one month and within twelve months before you fly. A health certificate in the AQCS Annexure format, signed by Nepal’s competent veterinary authority. The AQCS Advance NOC, which is free and which no airline will board the animal without.

There is no titre test. None appears in the AQCS or DGFT requirements, and the vaccination is the standard on its own.

There is no routine quarantine either. The final NOC is issued at the port of entry after a physical examination, and a healthy animal goes home with you. Station quarantine is for animals that fail that exam. Worth knowing: AQCS’s own documents disagree on how long it lasts, its SOP saying 15 days and its baggage-rule page saying clearance after 30, so treat any single figure you are quoted with caution.

Pet import into India is a restricted trade with one exemption, and which side of it you fall on changes the timeline entirely.

Transfer of Residence covers owners relocating after two or more continuous years abroad: up to two cats or dogs travel as accompanied baggage, no DGFT licence needed. For a Nepali resident moving to India after a long posting, this is usually the route.

Everyone else applies to DGFT on Form ANF 2M. The authorising committee meets monthly, so the calendar rather than the paperwork sets your pace. Start two months out at minimum.

Flights from Kathmandu reach Delhi and Kolkata directly, both of them clearing cities, which makes the routing simpler than it might be.

Plan the sector to land at a clearing city even if a connection through a smaller Indian airport looks cheaper or faster. An animal that arrives anywhere other than Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru or Kolkata cannot be cleared, and the problem is discovered at the worst possible moment.

One more check before you leave: the owner’s name on the health certificate must match the air ticket exactly. The two are prepared separately, weeks apart, and a mismatch as small as a missing initial is enough to stop a compliant animal at the counter.