The Guides

Moving to Dubai with pets

All you need to know to move while moving in to Dubai with the furry member of your family

Words by Ankita Bhowmick in The Guides · Feb 20th, 2018

For pet owners, the four-legged furry creatures are as good as their family members, whom they would never want to leave behind while moving into a different country. Dubai has their own set of rules and regulations when it comes to bringing in pet animals from other countries. Some communities are more pet friendly than others.

If you are planning to get your pet in the country, there are documents which should be sent by fax to the Human Resource Department, not less than 3 weeks prior to the date that has been scheduled for the pet's arrival to the UAE. Upon receiving them, the department forwards the documents to the Ministry of Agriculture where they are checked and processed, before an import permit is issued, which is valid for sixty days from the date of its issue. Lets have a look at the bunch of documents which are needed to be faxed in order to acquire the import permit, the originals of which, must be carried while receiving the pets.

1. Certificate Of Good Health

A letter from the veterinarian of your home country, certifying that the pet is in good health and free from rabies is mandatory in order to import your pet in the country. The letter should be written on a letterhead of the veterinarian and should also contain a stamp, and must also be recognised by the veterinarian of the government of your home country. This certificate comes with a validity of one month from the date it has been issued.

2. Vaccination

A vaccination certificate should be stamped by the veterinarian and contain all the vaccinations along with their dates. All dogs, above the age of four months, must be vaccinated, not less than a month and not more than a year before their arrival in Dubai. The mandatory vaccinations for dogs include rabies, canine distemper virus (CDV), canine parvovirus, infectious canine hepatitis and leptospirosis. Cats, on the other hand, must be vaccinated against rabies, feline pan leukopenia (FPV), feline rhinotracheitis (FHV-1) and feline calicivirus. This certificate is also valid for just one month from the date of its issue.

3. Microchip

All pets to be brought to Dubai, must be implanted with a microchip, the number of which of which should be mentioned in all the relevant documents. It is also important for the microchip to be an ISO 11784 one, which is a 15 digit and non-encrypted one. In case your microchip is not an ISO 11784, you should have your own microchip scanner for it to get scanned.

4. Copy Of Owner's Passport

Last, but not the least, the passport copy of the owner of the pet is an important document that is also needed to be sent along with others to the Human Resource department in order to acquire the import permit.