What is export health certificate?
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
The export health certificate, formally the Certificate of Health for Export (Pet Animals), is the document AQCS issues after examining a pet in person, without which a pet cannot leave India. AQCS calls it "the NOC". It costs Rs 500, paid online through Bharatkosh, is normally issued the same day and is valid for 10 days.
Also called Certificate of Health for Export (Pet Animals), AQCS export certificate, pet export NOC, NOC for pet export India.
Key facts
- AQCS issues the Certificate of Health for Export (Pet Animals), normally the same day as the examination. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- It is valid for 10 days from the date of issue or examination at AQCS. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- It costs Rs 500 per certificate from 1 May 2025, paid online through Bharatkosh only. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- There is no online portal for export: you confirm an appointment about 7 days ahead by email or phone and bring the pet in person. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- Each pet needs its own application form. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
What papers do you bring for the export certificate?
Originals and self-attested photocopies, with one application form per pet.
- A health certificate from a registered local vet saying the pet is fit to travel by road, air or train. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- The microchip certificate. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- The last year's vaccination record, or the mother's if the pet is too young to be vaccinated. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- A copy of your passport and of your air ticket. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- The airway bill, if the pet flies as cargo. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- The rabies blood-test report, if your destination asks for one. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- Two postcard-size (4 × 6 inch) photos of the pet. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- An authority letter, if someone else will collect the certificate for you. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
How do you get the export certificate, step by step?
Start with the destination's rules, finish at AQCS within 10 days of the flight.
Meet the destination's rules first
The country you are going to decides the microchip, rabies vaccine timing, any blood test and any import permit. AQCS asks you to bring whatever it requires. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Get a local vet's fitness certificate
Any registered local vet can issue it. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Book the AQCS appointment
Email or phone your AQCS station and confirm an appointment about 7 days before you fly. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Pay Rs 500 on Bharatkosh
Cash and demand drafts are not accepted. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Take your pet and the papers
The officer examines your pet; if it is healthy, the certificate is normally issued the same day. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
What else does the destination country need?
The export certificate is India's side. Each destination adds its own, and some take months. Full details are on each country page.
UK
Blood test abroad and a 3-month wait
A microchip, rabies vaccine, a rabies blood test at an EU-approved lab (none is in India) and a Great Britain pet health certificate; entry no sooner than 3 months after the blood sample. GOV.UK
USA
CDC rules for dogs
Dogs from India face CDC's entry rules for high-risk countries, including a blood test at a CDC-approved lab, none of them in India. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
UAE
An import permit and titre
The UAE accepts a rabies titre from a lab accredited in the exporting country, then issues an import permit. UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment
Canada
A rabies certificate
Canada asks for no blood test with a valid rabies vaccination certificate. Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Going away soon? Tell us your dates.
A checked local sitter feeds, walks and keeps your pet company at home, follows your care sheet to the letter and sends a photo every day. Petym is opening city by city: send your dates and we will tell you when a sitter can take them.
- Meet your sitter first, free
- PAN-checked, first-aid trained
- A photo every day
- Pay through Petym, never cash
Questions owners ask
How long is the pet export certificate valid?
- 10 days from the date of issue or examination at AQCS, so the visit has to fall within the 10 days before your pet flies. AQCS suggests confirming an appointment about 7 days before departure.
Is the export health certificate the same as the NOC?
- Yes, for a pet leaving India. AQCS's own export page and form call it "the NOC", and Air India's "No Objection Certificate" from AQCS for a pet leaving India is the same document. It is not the ATITHI Advance NOC, which is for pets coming into India.
Can someone else take my pet to AQCS for the export certificate?
- Yes, with an authority letter from you, which the AQCS export form asks for if someone else will collect the certificate. They need to bring the pet and every original document and photocopy on the list.
Can I get the pet export certificate in a city without an AQCS office?
- AQCS has stations in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and the pet must be examined in person, so plan to travel to one. Air India handles pet exports only from those six cities. For Kochi, ask AQCS Chennai, which covers Cochin International Airport.
Keep reading
Related terms
More in travel and paperwork
- Advance NOCThe Advance NOC (No Objection Certificate) is the clearance a passenger must hold before a pet dog or cat can board a flight to India. You apply on CBIC's ATITHI 2.0 portal at least 7 days before travel, and AQCS issues it within 1 working day of checking your documents. Airlines will not board the pet without it.
- AQCSAQCS, Animal Quarantine and Certification Services, is the Government of India service under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying that examines pets and issues the health certificate a pet needs to leave India, and clears pets arriving. It has six stations: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Its fees are paid online through Bharatkosh.
- Dog boxA dog box is the compartment in a train's brake van, where a dog travels as luggage when its owner does not hold a whole First AC or First Class coupe or cabin. It is booked at the station's luggage office at least 3 hours before departure and charged at the Scale L rate on a fixed 30 kg.
- Fit-to-fly certificateA fit-to-fly certificate is a registered vet's signed and stamped statement that a pet has been examined and is healthy enough to fly. Every Indian airline that carries pets asks for one, with the rabies vaccination record. How recent it must be differs: within 7 days on Air India, 15 days on Akasa Air, 48 hours on SpiceJet.
- Health certificateA pet health certificate is a vet's signed and stamped statement that your pet has been examined and is healthy, usually free of infectious disease and fit to travel. In India, Indian Railways, airlines and AQCS ask for one. The catch is timing: each wants a certificate issued within its own window, from 24 hours to 10 days.
- IATA pet crateAn IATA pet crate is a travel kennel built to the International Air Transport Association's Live Animals Regulations, Container Requirement 1, for pets flying in the hold. It must let the pet stand, turn and lie naturally, and be rigid, ventilated on all four sides, bolted together, with a water bowl filled from outside and the right labels.
- Pet passportIndia does not issue a pet passport; the EU pet passport is issued only by authorised vets to owners living in the EU. When people in India say pet passport, they usually mean the travel papers: microchip and vaccination records, a vet's health certificate, the AQCS export certificate, and the destination's own certificate or permit.
- Scale LScale L is Indian Railways' luggage rate: its Scale P parcel rate plus 80%. A dog on a train is charged at Scale L on a fixed weight, whatever it weighs: 30 kg in the brake-van dog box, 60 kg if it rides with you in a First AC or First Class coupe or cabin. Distance does the rest.
- Transfer of residenceTransfer of residence is the customs category for a passenger moving to India after living abroad for two years or more. Under it, the passenger may bring up to two pet dogs or cats as baggage, with an Advance NOC from the ATITHI 2.0 portal. Anyone abroad for less than two years needs a different route, usually a DGFT licence.
Keep exploring
Sources
Each source was opened and read on the date shown. How Petym checks its sources
- AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Frequently asked questions (opens in a new tab)
- AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Export of pets (dogs and cats) (opens in a new tab)
- Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Order of 28 April 2025: processing fees for import and export, and AQCS accommodation charges, from 1 May 2025 (opens in a new tab)
- AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Application for import or export of pet animals, with the list of documents for export (opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Rabies blood tests (opens in a new tab)
- US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Approved rabies serology laboratories for testing dogs (opens in a new tab)
Show all 11 sourcesShow fewer
- UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment: Import of pets (cats and dogs): service details (16 October 2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Import reference document: domestic dogs and cats (opens in a new tab)
- AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Contact us: AQCS stations (opens in a new tab)
- Gazette of India (Controller of Publications), for Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying: S.O. 4396(E), 10 Oct 2024: pet dogs and cats through Cochin International Airport under AQCS Chennai (opens in a new tab)
- Air India: Travelling with pets (opens in a new tab)