What is health certificate?
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
A 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.
Also called pet health certificate, vet health certificate, fitness certificate for dog, veterinary certificate.
Key facts
- Southern Railway asks for a vet's fitness certificate obtained 24 to 48 hours before the journey, shown with the vaccination card when booking a dog. Southern Railway
- Air India asks for a health and rabies vaccination certificate from a registered vet, issued within 7 days before departure. Air India
- SpiceJet wants a vet's certificate no more than 48 hours old at scheduled departure. SpiceJet
- AQCS asks for a health certificate from a registered local vet saying the pet is fit to travel by road, air or train, with an export application. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- For Great Britain, a pet must enter within 10 days of its Great Britain pet health certificate being issued. GOV.UK
Who asks for a pet health certificate, and how recent must it be?
Get the certificate last, inside the shortest window that applies to your trip. Rules as published, checked 21 October 2026.
| Who asks | How recent | |
|---|---|---|
| Train, dog box or coupe Southern Railway | Indian Railways (Southern Railway's notice) | Obtained 24 to 48 hours before the journey |
| Air India, domestic or international Air India | The airline | Issued within 7 days before departure |
| Akasa Air Akasa Air | The airline | Within 72 hours of travel in its terms, which also say it stays valid 15 days from issue; confirm with Akasa |
| SpiceJet SpiceJet | The airline | No more than 48 hours old at departure |
| Leaving India AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying | AQCS, with the export application | A local vet's fitness certificate; AQCS's own export certificate is then valid 10 days |
| Entering Great Britain GOV.UK | UK authorities | Pet must enter within 10 days of issue |
| Entering the EU European Union (Your Europe) | EU authorities | Issued by an official state vet no more than 10 days before arrival |
What does a health certificate say?
For travel within India, it is usually a letter from your vet saying the pet was examined on a given date and found healthy. Southern Railway's notice, for a dog going by train, asks for a certificate that the dog has no infectious or contagious disease. Airlines ask for a registered vet's certificate that the pet is fit to fly, signed and stamped, alongside its rabies vaccination record. Ask your vet to include the pet's name, breed, age and microchip number, so the papers clearly match the animal in front of the official.
For international travel the certificate becomes an official form with fixed wording, set by the destination. Coming into India, the vet in the exporting country certifies the pet free of clinical signs of named diseases, and the form goes in AQCS's own Indian format, signed by that country's competent authority. Going out, the destination's certificate, such as Great Britain's, has to be completed by an official vet.
How do you avoid problems with a health certificate?
Most refusals at a counter come from timing or names that do not match.
- Book the vet visit inside the shortest window on your trip, counting back from departure, not from the day you buy the ticket. SpiceJet
- Make sure your name on the certificate matches the name on the ticket. Air India
- Take the vaccination card to the vet and to the station or airport; rabies vaccination is checked with the certificate. Southern Railway
- Carry originals and photocopies. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
- For a pet leaving India, remember the vet's certificate is only step one: AQCS issues the export certificate after examining the pet. AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying
Going away soon? Tell us your dates.
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Questions owners ask
How long is a pet health certificate valid in India?
- There is no single validity: each authority sets its own window. Southern Railway asks for one obtained 24 to 48 hours before a train journey, SpiceJet no more than 48 hours old, and Air India one issued within 7 days of departure. Check your exact route and airline.
Can any vet issue a pet health certificate?
- For travel within India and for the first step of export, a registered vet can issue it; AQCS asks for a certificate from a registered local vet. For entry into another country, the destination usually requires its own form completed or endorsed by an official government vet.
Is a health certificate the same as a fit-to-fly certificate?
- Often it is the same document: airlines ask for a registered vet's certificate that the pet is healthy and fit to fly. A train needs a fitness certificate from 24 to 48 hours before the journey, and leaving India also needs AQCS's separate export health certificate.
Do I need a health certificate for pet boarding?
- Boarding sitters usually ask for an up-to-date vaccination record rather than a health certificate. Some ask for a vet check if your pet has a condition or is on medicine. Ask the sitter what they need before the stay.
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.
- Export health certificateThe 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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Sources
Each source was opened and read on the date shown. How Petym checks its sources
- Southern Railway: Rules for carrying pet dogs in trains and procedure for booking (press release 426/2022-23, 2 November 2022) (opens in a new tab)
- Air India: Travelling with pets (opens in a new tab)
- SpiceJet: Terms and conditions of carriage: carriage of live animals (AVI) (opens in a new tab)
- AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Export of pets (dogs and cats) (opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Great Britain pet health certificate (opens in a new tab)
- Akasa Air: Conditions of Carriage (cl. 9 service dogs; cl. 18 pets) (opens in a new tab)
Show all 9 sourcesShow fewer
- European Union (Your Europe): EU rules on travelling with pets and other animals in the EU (last checked 01/09/2026) (opens in a new tab)
- Air India: Paws on Board Guidelines (PDF, read by OCR) (opens in a new tab)
- AQCS, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying: Import of live pet dogs under the Livestock Importation Act, 1898: standard operating procedure (August 2026) (opens in a new tab)